Forgiving the Unforgivable
by kay.heartscry
Summary: [VinTifa] A Heroine's life has been destroyed, A gunman that has none gives her a new one. But in the end, the question isn't who you love it's who you love more.
1. Shattered Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy Characters.

Wow… my first fanfic… like… wow… haha so I guess if you're reading this you must like Vin/Tifa. If you don't… I REALLY –emphasize REALLY -emphasize- you don't read this. Any flames are welcome. VERY welcome. Bwahaha. I like any kind of review, good or bad. I'll take it. –looks very desperate- This story's pretty much about Tifa being left by cloud and Vincent helps her out, they DO fall in love but the past always comes back to haunt you. Well lets start this story now… that is unless you want me to keep typing…o.O –ahem- YES YES I'D RATHER GET TO THE STORY TOO.

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**A Shattered Hope.**

Her raven hair trailed behind her, her sleepy form slugged slowly to the bathroom. She looked at her reflection and saw a broken woman; she had offered him the only thing she had that was worth shit, her heart. _Maybe that wasn't even worth shit._ Her personality was always perky and optimistic but her mind absolutely ravished at being pessimistic. Her once vibrant red eyes were now dulled to a rusty roan red.

"Why…?" anger flared deep within her. "After all I gave you! We could have been fucking happy! But you had to have your petty little Aeris!"

With unbelievable speed and strength, her fist flew into the mirror and shattered it. Tifa Lockheart, the heroine of the Planet, fell to her very knees like the night before and felt tears prick at her eyes as the crimson fluid poured from her knuckles onto the white tiled floor. She had promised never to cry, not after her father was ruthlessly murdered by a crazed man. But compared to Cloud, Sephiroth would have seemed like a perfectly sane man.

When the blond warrior was still inside this very house, he had slept in this very house. It had been their home, but he still brought a ghost with him. Claiming she talked to him, claiming that she was lonely and she wanted him to go to her.

First of all, he was absolutely crazy; people don't talk from the grave. Next, if, and that was a _huge_ if, Aeris truly talked to him, she would never have told him to kill himself. She was too selfless for that, she would have wanted him to live a life.

The young woman finally stood; still refusing to let the persistent tears have their way. Another day was beginning; Tifa would change into clothing that made her form seem to disappear, wash up, descend from the same stairs that held painful memories of her and Cloud. He would sometimes chase her up, attempting to tickle her the whole way up, every single day she would feel the urge to throw herself down those very stairs. After she calmed her urges, she would enter the kitchen and make breakfast, every time she picked up a knife to cut onions or anything, she would be tempted to slice through her very own skin, the only barrier between the world and her blood.

Death. It called for her whatever she did and where ever she was. She still wore the counterfeit smile she had been wearing since she could remember.

After breakfast, she would head down to the small bar. _Her_ bar. It belonged to no one else. Unlike Cloud, who was also Aeris'… if he wasn't completely hers, this town wasn't hers, her friends always had someone else that was more important, they had lives of their own. Nothing was hers except for this small bar. The red-eyed beauty finally reached the bar, Intoxication. It was much different than her previous one, Seventh Heaven, it had more of a moody feel, more so, no men hooted at her anymore, she deliberately destroyed her perfect image with shapeless baggy shirts and starchy jeans that held itself up, it didn't even shape her slender legs.

Slow nights always left her with her thoughts; Tifa hated it. The only reason why this wealthy fighter still worked was to stay busy and to force the painful memories back into their little boxes. She had gotten enough money to last a lifetime… all of AVALANCHE had received a glutton of money.

It was only 12 am and the entire bar had fallen silent from the fact that roughly no one was in it. The silence ushered the memories into her mind's eye.

_"Cloud? Are you alright?" Tifa's voice was sincere and kind with a tinge of concern. They had lived at the edge of Nibelhiem forfive months… together but he still seemed so distant._

_"Yeah." His swerved his head around and faced her with a bright smile. Cloud stood on top of the small, grassy hill as he looked out into the distant stars. "It's just… I miss her."_

_"…Her?" the pain was evident in her voice but you couldn't even see her expression through the shadowy night._

_"Aeris… Did you know she talked to me? Not now… but in my dreams."_

_"C-Cloud… that's not possible… she's gone." Her brow furrowed in worry, was he losing his mind? _

_"No, she's not. She wants me to go to the Promise Land. I can be happy there. Don't you want me to be happy?" The delirious lightness in his voice was frightening. _

_"Of c-course. B-But can't you be h-happy here?" With me? Her heart screamed for her to voice._

"…" _His face fell slightly but he crossed the space that was between them and gave her a tight embrace. The female martial artist's heart pounding… could he hear it? She quickly returned the hug; savoring his warmth._

_"I love you. I'll always love you. But… I love her a different way than I love you." It felt like he had just reached into her ribcage, ripped her very heart out and threw it towards a spiked wall. Tifa felt all the hope that she had been harboring for so many god damned years shatter into a million pieces. _

_"I think... I should go now. I've been thinking... a lot about this. Don'tyouthink it's theright thing? Ican't live my life like this, pretending…Lying to you. It isn't fair to you or me. I have to go find her or else... I'll... I'll..."_

"_Never find closure." Her voice was almost inaudible. _

_"Yeah... I need her."_

_"H-How?" She finally pulled out of the alluring hug and looked in his eyes with a desperate gaze._

_His arms finally dropped from her waist and he began to back away, the smile that graced his lips told Tifa that thought she would never see again… _

"Hey! LADY!" She shot back into reality and saw a drunken man calling to her for another drink. Tifa moved around the counter and towards the table he sat at and served him the scotch but she remembered the feeling she felt when he finally faded out of sight, that he was truly gone. All hope drained from her and that's where she was now, cold and void of everything she used to be.

Almost 3 months after Cloud left, it was raining and Tifa went outside to the mountains. They were her place, they belonged only to her since no one could go into them without getting themselves' killed. But that night it was different, she went outside and saw the same blotch of golden hair through the rain that she had seen in her dreams for the last 3 months. He stood at the edge of the cliff almost ready to step off. She had screamed to him and he had heard her… but it didn't stop him. He gave her a hopeful smile before stepping off and plunging to his certain death. Her piercing scream cut through the wind until it was completely silent aside from the pelting rain. Now even the mountains have been stained and were no longer hers.

Once again, she returned back to the present in a depressive mood. Now, the bar was deathly quiet, it was already 3. Closing up and headed home, but the mountains caught her attention that very night. Like the evening of Cloud's suicide, it poured down on her skin, making it ice cold.

"Maybe…" The girl was weary and desperate to be with the love of her life. "Maybe I can finally be with you…"

It was freezing and Tifa's body was slowly shutting down, if she didn't warm up soon, she would pass out. But ignoring the shivers that attacked her torso and limbs, she continued towards the cliff that Cloud had leapt off.

"…Don't go…" the faintest voice called in the back of her mind. What was it saying? It didn't matter. Tifa stood exactly at the edge, she could feel herself slipping into the darkness that crept up her.

"Cloud…" Her eyes drooped and her legs couldn't hold her up anymore. Tifa was overjoyed yet scared of what was going to be coming. But nothing mattered anymore; she slipped from consciousness before she could remember anything.


	2. Cost of a Good Deed

Disclaimer: I don't own dipshit or any Final Fantasy 7 stuff...  
  
=D I only got ONE review but I'm damned happy. Haha so aaaaaaanyways, IF ANYBODY even reads my stupid stories than I just want you to know is that the last chapter was kind of... fucked up –ahem-. Partially because I didn't REALIZE that there was an EDITING PART that you could go to BEFORE you posted it. So... yeah... I'm not that bright... =T but lets continue my crappy story, huh?

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**The Cost of a Good Deed.  
**  
His legs ached, he had ran for so long... just to get here. And for what? Emptiness. Absence. Who called, no, screamed for him then? In his daydreams and nightmares?! The cave was silent; no ghost or spirit appeared.  
  
"Lucretia..." His voice was hoarse; how could his mind be so cruel to play these tricks on him? His mind whirled, his breath was short. Such a lack of oxygen was slightly dizzying. Another cackle blasted into his ears but he knew that if anyone else stood beside him, they would not here it.  
  
_Quiet Chaos, I'm not in the mood to listen to your wretched voice_. Why wasn't Lucretia here? It made him feel as if tears were to weld up in his eyes but they did no such thing; he was unable to show emotion anymore. For the oddest reason, hope had built up inside him, hope that forced him to believe that Lucretia would be in the cave... with open arms. 

_ Make me. Oh, poor Vincey-poo! Sad that your little slut isn't here to whore herself up with you? Hahaha_. Flexing his fingers, Vincent knew that the creature labeled Chaos was within him and a part of him, ergo, he could not Shut. It. Up.  
  
The Sun crawled across the sky; dark blue satin, dotted with sequins, was pulled over Vincent and all the other people. Though the ebony haired man was frustrated with his missing find, the reasonability of heading to Nibelhiem for rest was undeniable.  
  
The mysterious AVALANCHE member moved as fast as his feet would carry him. If the cool night air only brought its million of insects that swarmed Vincent, furthermore, it began to rain. No. Rain was not the correct word for the storm, it was gushing buckets of water, the skies seemed to have had a break down and was in hysteria. But soon thoughts of Lucretia began to flood him also.  
  
For once, Vincent Valentine had no idea where to go. It was almost three in the morning; the wet weather had slowed him down even after he lost his sense of time in the cave. Everything was dark and nothing was visible except for shadows in the darkness. Now how hard was it to see _that_?  
  
"Vincent..." Her angelic cry pounded in his ears. He was hearing her again but a silhouette moved near the mountains.  
  
"Lucretia...!" urgency dripped from his whisper as he ran towards the darkened figure; her hair was just like Lucretia's, it moved down her back but the skin of the arms were a ghostly pale.  
  
_Oh, please god let her be real._ He was so close but saw the phantom woman began to lean forward over the edge of a cliff. She was going too fast; leaving him too fast. Not again.  
  
"Lucretia! Don't go! Please!" The rain came down on the two; she was in arm's length but something was different about her. Vincent could care less; he would have her back. Reaching out his human hand, he reached for anything that could confirm that she was real. A wrist was all he could manage, plus, he miscalculated her momentum and was pulled with her towards the cliff's edge.  
  
Mr. Valentine was overjoyed to have been able to touch her but horrified at the fact that he might lose her the second he got her back. The body flew over the edge while as his chest landed roughly on the dirty rock floor. The arm was slippery from the moisture that had connected to her skin but he refused to let her disappear into obscurity.  
  
With every ounce of strength he had, he pulled her up unto the same level as he sat. Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh of relief as he wrapped protective arms around the slumping body. Vincent let his head droop into the female's hair but... it wasn't the same fragrance he remembered each and everyday. His arms held her shoulders as he let his glazed eyes search the young girl's face; it wasn't the gentle face his mind filled with, it was the fierce yet kindhearted face that belonged to no one but Tifa Lockheart.  
  
"Vincent..." there she was again, but not even the slightest noise emitted from the hypothermic fighter that lay in his arms. Soon, the voices died down and all he could hear was the rain and his breathing... wasn't Tifa supposed breathing also...?  
  
Her breath was shallow but it was something but if she kept losing heat, she wouldn't have anything to wake up to except for the Lifestream. Vincent pulled her into him once more then collected her from the floor and stood.  
  
The only thing he could think of was the inn; it wasn't like he could walk into a house and hope it was hers. The innkeeper watched him with a cautious eye as he entered with a soaked girl wrapped in his crimson cloak.  
  
"I... am in need of a room." The gunman looked straight into the elderly man's eyes; there would be no room for suspicion.  
  
"I have one with two mattresses. Is that good?" Speaking with confident that most people would not have when Vincent Valentine's gaze pierced into his or her own.  
  
"Yes." Trying to read the man behind the counter's mind, Vincent spoke with the same monotone as usual.  
  
"50 gil." His eyes shifted from Vincent's face to Tifa's form. Did the innkeeper think Vincent was some kind of sick pervert? It didn't matter; Vincent paid the amount and carried Tifa up to their room.  
  
Once inside, he moved around and looked for some kind of dry clothing. Finding none, he decided blankets would do just as good. Vincent set her down on one of the beds and looked around for a towel for himself. He removed his cloak and his shirt, leaving the towel that he used to dry his hair to drape on his broad shoulders.  
  
Tifa hand began to inch around, maybe she was regaining consciousness but it was impossible to tell at the moment. Vincent maneuvered his way around the twin bed to the side he had left the woman on and wrapped his fingers, flesh and metal, at the hem of Tifa's plain black T-shirt. He took a _big_ breath and turned his head away from her luscious torso that he was slowly revealing by pulling the saturated clothing off her skin. Next came her... jeans that once stood on its own but now clung to her legs as if it would melt away if it's grip loosened. Vincent knew he would only love Lucretia for eternity but Tifa's body would make any man blush. He peeled off the pants quickly; again making sure his eyes would not be tempted to peep.  
  
Picking up the wet shirt and pants, he got up and started to move to the bathroom but a loud knock forced him to go towards the door instead, still with clothing in hand.  
  
"Sir! We've received an alarming call and we'd like to ask you a couple of questions!" the muffled voice came through the door.  
  
Vincent swung open the door and was greet by two police officers; their eyes traveled down his bare chest to the clothing he held, even worse they saw a half-conscious, almost-nude Tifa lying on the bed behind him. Their faces contorted into disgust, Vincent saw their expressions and looked behind him, then himself and the indubitable evidence that he held; praying to what ever god there was that they didn't think what they thought. Behind the police stood the innkeeper with an odd expression that was mixed between a sickened anger, relief of stopping from anything from happening and the slightest pride of knowing he was correct. Well, correct in everyone's eyes except for Vincent's. Who was the only one who knew the truth.  
  
"You're coming with us, sir." The first officer stated.  
  
"Officer..." Vincent's eyes glanced at his nametag. "Bennett. This is just a misunderstanding."  
  
"Yeah, right. That's what they all say. You can make this easy or hard but it's late and I think we'd all prefer easy." The second officer, wait, officer 'Tham' answered sternly at Vincent.  
  
A loud groan sounded behind Vincent, Tifa was getting closer to consciousness but that wouldn't help Vincent at the moment. Vincent Valentine never gives up, but he allowed himself to be taken away by the cops, it wasn't worth fussing about. But as he passes the innkeeper, who obviously knew Tifa, either as the 'heroine of the Planet' or as a friend, it didn't matter, the shirtless man managed to say some words before officer Bennett cuffed him and shoved him down the stairs and into the cold night chill.  
  
"Wrap her in some blankets or else she'll freeze."  
  
The elderly man's jaw went slack but he just watched as the police nudged him down the stairs. Officer Tham slowed down slightly and whispered to Mr. Innkeeper.  
  
"Thanks for the heads up, who knows what this sicko would have done to Ms. Lockheart. She's lucky to have us to take care of her. She hasn't been the same since that body of Mr. Strife was found." Giving the senior citizen another smile before heading down with his partner and the culprit.  
  
After Terry, the innkeeper, heard the police car drive away, he walked into Tifa's room and wrapped her up in all the blankets. He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and stroked her slowly drying hair, damn, she reminded him of his daughter, so intent on making herself perfect that fucking boy. A sly tear streaked down his cheek, remembering his beloved daughter... hopefully Tifa wouldn't have the same fatal fate that Mirri had had. Another tear rolled down his wrinkled face.  
  
"...Terry...?" A hoarse whisper made its way to Terry, looking down, he saw that Tifa's eyes were straining to stay open.  
  
"Just get some sleep, dear. You've been through a lot for tonight. Try to sleep." With that, Terry left.  
  
The sun's rays peeked through the bars and the curtains. Tifa and Vincent were both fully awake, neither could get much rest throughout the night. Tifa had her nightmares but instead of them being a hopeless fog that clouded her mind, screams of regrets that stabbed at her heart; someone was there with her. A flutter of a red cape and a familiar presence and aura but as soon as she turned her head to see... the mysterious person was gone. Whoever it was, blew the fog away and pulled the daggers of regret from her but every time she tried to see who it was that was beside her, he'd disappear and everything would begin to suffocate her once more. So eventually, she stopped trying to figure out whose it was and just enjoyed the slightly numbed pain.  
  
Vincent, on the other hand, was just having trouble with the sluts... or possibly drags that were sharing the same cell as him. He was very alert and was awakened several times because Chaos screamed to him that someone was too close. Seemed like not even Chaos was willing to let these people near Vincent. At least, these constant awakenings were sparing him nightmares. Anything was better than nightmares.  
  
"Tifa?" a knock was heard. Tifa tried to speak but nothing came out, instead, a raspy whisper came out and her throat burned for many minutes.  
  
"Seemed like somebody caught a cold. Hehe." A slight twinkle gleamed in Terry's eyes as he came up with some soup for breakfast.  
  
Grabbing a pen and a notepad, Tifa scribbled down 'How did I get here?'.  
  
"Some man brought you here... I think he had some intentions that weren't very noble. I called the police and he was arrested. We... we found you in what you're wearing right now."  
  
Tifa choked on the chicken soup she was slurping, a man? She ferociously wrote down another message. 'A man? Who?'  
  
"I'm not sure. But he should be in the Nibelhiem Jailhouse right now." He answered with the same patience he had been showing Tifa for the last six months after Cloud's death. Tifa's body moved slowly out of bed but then saw what she was wearing... more... what she _wasn't_ wearing.  
  
"Hehe. Here." A wrinkled smile creased his face as he passed Tifa some clothing; it wasn't hers though. She began to dress quickly as Terry turned his back to her, giving her sweet privacy.  
  
"The man, how did he look like?" Trying to ease the tense silence that had floated down since she began to clothe herself but her voice continued to crack.  
  
"He had long black hair... but no where close to as how long yours is. He was also very... intimidating; he stood a good six feet. And he was deathly pale. Just plain suspicious if you ask me." Terry seemed more than happy to talk.  
  
_Pale? Black hair? ...Intimidating? Oh, it can't be._ The innkeeper's description almost fit Vincent Valentine perfectly. Her voice was barely a whisper. "Did he have red eyes?"  
  
"Oh yes! That's what was so spooky about him." A low groan radiated from the brunette.  
  
'I have to go see him.' She wrote down to Terry. _Oh god. Please don't be Vincent.  
_  
After finished eating she walked down to the jail. Her heart pumped loudly in her chest, if it really was him, then everything would change... again. Tifa didn't want change, everything was slowly getting back into a routine... she liked a routine. _Don't lie to yourself. You miss it. The thrill, the rush, you missed it all_. She argued with herself all the way to the small prison.  
  
Earlier that morning though, around five. Vincent sat there, shirtless and thoroughly chilled. The drag prostitute that he was put in the same cell with kept glancing towards him. _Don't make a move. Don't make a move_. He recited the mantra in his mind; hoping that it would happen. He had very little tolerance left after being arrested; he couldn't guarantee a Chaos-free jail if that wench decided to 'seduce' him.  
  
But. We all know that Vincent has _pretty_ bad luck. Therefore, she... he... the bitch made a move. She sauntered over towards his 'sleeping' form and jabbed him in the ribs... hard.  
  
"Hi, sweetheart. Want to have some fun?" That slut ended her sentence with a wink.  
  
"No. Go away." He now sat up, making sure to keep his anger that swelled in him contained.  
  
"Oh. Come on. I want it. I know you want it. For god's sake, the guard wants us to have it. So lets have it." Her voice was low and supposedly sultry, but it came out slightly... manly.  
  
"Get. Away. From. Me. Now." His eyes were now a menacing blood red as they slid to his right, looking the annoying hooker in the eye. She still didn't seem to get it through her dyed blond hair or maybe her large amount of make-up was blocking her own sight. But either way, her hand trailed up his thigh.  
  
It didn't make it very far before his stress was finally balled into a fist and struck the whore in the jaw. After the attack, his cellmate lay on the floor, sprawled, not moving a muscle. Valentine gave a triumphant smirk and let his eyes droop and shut; his sleepiness welcomed nightmares.  
  
But only three hours later, Tifa walked into those doors and saw a very recognizable sleeper.  
  
"Vincent?!" Right after her words, she began to cough but it managed to wake him up. It was almost amusing how fast he shot up from the hard bed.


	3. The Witch Doctor's Advice

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Okay? Oh...my...god... people actually read this??? Holy shit! Like HOLY SHIT!! Haha anyways, I'm not in the mood to type my OWN life-story, so let's move on to the story!

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**The Witch Doctor's Advice**.  
  
"Vincent?!" his form shot up with incredible speed but the voice that called him soon was overwhelmed with coughs. 

"Tifa?" He craned his head upwards to see her shaking physique. He also was feeling the slightest illness coming over him; he had been shirtless for the entire chilly night.

"Why are… you here?" the obviously ill woman's voice was cracked and her vocal cords strained to let the each word out.

"You almost fell off a cliff." Glimpses of the previous night pumped into her mind.

Deciding that her voice would not allow her support her if she tried to speak; she took out the notepad and pen she had used earlier and wrote down a note with ferocity. 'Then why was I half-naked?!' her eyes showed great digustment.

"You… were soaked from head to toe. I had to remove your soaked clothing else you catch a pneumonia. It seems I have failed at that task." Though he seemed unemotional from his appearance; Tifa could see the slightest annoyance sparkle in his eyes. Guilt gnawed at her soul, she should have known that Vincent Valentine, the one who had always been quiet and noble, would have tried to commit such a perverted act on her feminine body.

He made his way off the uncomfortable bed and moved to the bars that separated her and him. The whore that he had had to share his cell with was still out cold from Vincent's punch earlier that morning. She was writing away once again, she ripped it out of the coils and threw it towards him and hustled to the front desk. It floated to the pale man's feet; letting his eyes quickly scan it. Afterwards, he continued to lean against the bars with his arms through the parallel metal pipes. The small grateful message read 'I'll get you out, wait here… well you can't really move…'

"Hiya Tifa!" Officer Bennett gave her a blinding smile.

"How's that pervert doing in there? You going to beat him down or what?"

"Actua-" She broke into another fit of coughs. The police member ran to her side from around the small desk and gave her his bottled water. Another relieved smile blew across her face; accepting the water she drank it quickly.

Once done, she began to work on the memo for her lawful friend. 'Let him go. He's a friend of mine.' Vincent walked over to the drag queen, he noticed that she hadn't moved at all. It was just one punch. Only letting the tip of his dirtied boot nudge at her side, no response came and he began to worry. He was stronger than he looked, could he have killed the desperate slut? His face hovered above the prostitute; he saw no signs of life. It didn't even seem like she or he was breathing. But then, the eyelids that should have been shut opened and a forceful pressure pressed against his lips. Before any reaction could process within his brain, he was pinned against a wall being slobbered on by this very, _very_ good actor.

"Holy shit!" Vincent's eyes searched for the source of the voice as he tried to move his arms to push the ugly beast off him. His eyes landed on a shocked Officer 'Bennett' and a traumatized Tifa; she had even dropped her notepad and pen. Finally, he mustered enough strength to shove the whore away from him and gasped for any kind air that would fill his lungs.

"He's doing it again!" The cop screamed once he reality slapped him but Tifa was still deaf to it all.

"She forced herself on me!" Vincent's voice boomed throughout the small jailhouse. His eyes widened at his own outburst. Tifa, on the other hand, was now even more surprised than before.

"Yeah! Right!"

"Oh, baby. You like it rough, huh?"

"Get off of me!"

"Hey, maybe I should leave you two alone."

"You. You fucking shut up before I make you shut up."

"All this drama is making me want you more, Mr. Hot stuff."

"I said get off of me!"

Violent words were flung around as Tifa's headache began to worsen. Starting to feel faint, she let out an inaudible whisper.

"Just let him go." But of course no one had heard her over their own screams. Alike to the evening before, she felt herself plunge forward, in her mind, it was into a sea of haunting images, but in reality, it was towards the concrete floor.

Officer Bennett caught her not so gracefully but everything fell silent.

"She's running a hot fever." His hand slipped onto her forehead and felt the hot temperature. A solemn look filled his expression.

"She said to let you go before. She also mentioned that you two are friends. Please explain. I don't want to let her go until I know what the connection is. My wife and her are real close, same with me and her and I'm not letting her into the arms of a crazed rapist."

Friends? The small word enlarged itself within Vincent's mind. _She considers me a friend?_ Not letting his inner voices interfere, he replied.

"We… are of some form of friends."

"Hehe. You're from AVALANCHE. I remember seeing you, well about half of your face in one of the pictures Tifa showed me." The accusing glare Vincent had only been seeing in the man's eyes converted into a friendly beam. The middle-aged police officer stood and unlocked the caging door.

"I can't leave this hellhole with you. Take care of Tifa. There's no real doctor here in Nibelhiem. Kind of pathetic, don't you think? You might want to take care of her yourself or take her to Ms. Xiao. She isn't licensed… but she knows her medicine and sicknesses. Tifa's going to need something intense. Look at the color of her face." Tifa's skin was now possibly paler than Vincent's. Though this Ms. Xiao didn't sound very promising, the AVALANCHE member knew he didn't know enough medical techniques to help the very ill-looking Tifa.

Later that day, Vincent had gotten the details on 'Ms. Xiao' and her whereabouts. He carried the unconscious woman to Tifa's house, which he had also learned from his newfound friend. He placed a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. Tifa was burning up; how was it possible to even reach that kind of body temperature?

He had place on what he believed was her room and on what he hoped was her bed. Turning to leave, he heard a harsh cry from her restless sleep.

"Aeris!...No!.... Please… Cloud… come home…" Tears were evident in her voice but none leaked out of her closed eyes. He walked back over and tucked her in… again. Once more, he made his quickened pace towards the exit of the room but another whisper made him stop. Everything around had stopped.

"…Vincent…" What did he have anything to do with her unconscious mind? His ears burned to hear more of her words but none came and time restored itself. Vincent stayed in the room across from her, hoping to calm his own nightmares also.

The next day, he carried Tifa to the small cottage that belonged to Ms. Xiao. He was contemplating on how to knock with Tifa bundled in his arms when the door swung open and a haggish old woman answered the door.

"You… are… Vincent…" there was a 30 second pause between each word. She moved out of the doorway, allowing him to enter.

"Set… her… on… the… bed…" Taking in the cozy yet unnatural room in, he set her onto the soft bed.

"…Away…" Her voice was raspy voice was soothing in the most odd way. Maybe it was the way she said things.

"Away?" the questioned with uncertainty.

"Leave… us… come… back… in… an… hour…" That sentence alone had taken three minutes to conjure. But he listened to her wishes and left the cottage but not before giving Tifa another glance.

He kicked a small pebble, the hour was almost up. Should he stay? Could the witch doctor take care of her and let him leave for his search of the elusive Lucretia? Lucretia. He hadn't heard her say anything to him for the last two days.

It should be time, he made his way back towards the small home. Once he was within sight range, he saw that the old doctor was standing at the door.

"How is she?" Vincent's expression stayed the same unreadable face as Ms. Xiao's.

"She… is… very… ill… You… must… go… to… Cosmo… Canyon… for… Doctor… Chong…" Cosmo Canyon? That was the most likely place that Nanaki AKA Red was; but how to get there?

"Thank you." He entered the house and retrieved Tifa, bringing her back to her own home. Soon, Vincent found himself holding his old PHS in hand, ready to dial Cid's number. He looked over his shoulder again from his spot at the doorway of Tifa's room; where she was placed in bed and lay to rest. She was sweating but she didn't seem to be having any nightmares like the night before.

Swallowing his pride, he called the old pilot.

"What the fuck do you want?! I'm busy!"

"Cid?"

"Holy shit knockers! Vincent, my man, is that you?!"

"…Yes."

"Well, I'll be damned. What the hell do you want?" Though Cid's voice held no hatred, there was some sort of dislike hidden in it.

"I am in Nibelhiem and am in need of a ride to Cosmo Canyon… with Tifa."

"Tifa?! She didn't say anything about you in her last letter! What the fuck is going on?!"

"She's ill. I am here now and it is not your concern of my reasons."

Silence ringed on the other side but a sigh was heard. "Fine. I'll be there in the morning. You better be fucking ready to explain a whole lot of shit for me." A click represented that the conversation was over leaving Vincent only to hang up.

"Vincent…?" Tifa's voice was small but it was loud enough for Vincent's acute ears to pick it up.

"You should be asleep. We are going to Cosmo Canyon tomorrow to get a doctor." His words weren't harsh nor gentle. But the phrase 'get a doctor' was alarming, it meant seriousness.

"Am I dying?" She wasn't afraid of death… but she just didn't want it.

"No. Get rest." The sick woman didn't realize he had left the room but she fell into a sleep anyways.


	4. In The Morning Glow

Disclaimer: I don't own anything... T.T doesn't that make me feel loved?  
  
So any ways, if this chapter ends up being really shitty; please don't hurt me!! I have the plot pretty much planned out but I still haven't thought out some of the little things so yeah. =). I finally got to see the ffx ending =D bwahahaha I rock!! (plus anyone who read this fic... I swear to GOD I love you people!!) so what do all think about my first fic any ways?

I DO swear in this fic a lot eventually and I'm THINKING, COMPENSATING, PONDERING, RATIONALIZING, REASONING if I should make this a lemon in further chapters or should I just kind of go... '(kissing details) blah de blah blah AND THEY WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING WITH SMILES' kind of thing. Tell me what you guys think I should do. =)

L.u.L (love u lots)

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**In the Morning Glow**

The sound of a loud engine woke Vincent up; out side stood in all its glory was the Highwind. He could read the cusses that formed on the pilot's lips; a ghost of a smile flitted over Vincent's face.

"AHHHH!" The quick-moving ex-Turk sped to Tifa's room but she was only having a nightmare. "no… come back… I sorry…"

_Must be dreaming of Cloud once again… speaking of him. Where is he?_ Vincent was completely oblivious to the world's news and his fellow AVALANCHE member's lives. Shrugging, Vincent's heart just decided he didn't care and headed towards the door when Cid knocked. But before he opened the door though… he hesitated instinctively, he'd been doing that ever since the inn, before greeting Cid.

"Hello. I'm afraid I've woken up late." It was true… partly. The gunman did wake up too late for Cid but he hadn't expected Cid to arrive at four in the morning.

"Fine. How's Tif?"

"She seems to be having a nightmare."

"I meant the reason she's going to Cosmo Canyon with you, you dumbass." His voice still had the slightest pinch of resentment in it.

"Come in and I will go wake her." Moving away to Tifa's room, Vincent left the door gaping for Cid to enter. Cid turned around to close the door, then looking around the small house.

"Damn straight you will. So what's wrong?" No reply. The quiet man was already up the stairs by Tifa; ushering her to consciousness.

"Tifa. Wake up." His voice was more soft than usual.

Demons were lashing at each other; wanting to have blood shed. It was an all out war and Tifa was in the midst of it. Her incubus began with Cloud in a grassy plain; he was calling for her. Luring her with loving words and even warmer eyes but once she got there Aeris appeared beside him and they began to fade away. Leaving her to fed off the monsters that Aeris had brought with her, leaving her to have her flesh to be torn by their hungry claws. Tifa fought with everything she had but she didn't see the large mutated-looking dragon that was ready to strike her unknowing back. A loud shot sounded and Tifa saw the dead dragon fall beside her, turning to see her savior, majority of her heart believed it was Cloud that she would see but instead, she saw the very dark, the very mysterious Vincent Valentine. His Death Penalty was still held high; he had the slightest smile in his eyes. But in her heart, she was deeply disappointed.

"Where's Cloud?" For some reason, her voice was saying everything that was passing her brain. Making her rudely honest. Tifa's hands flew to her mouth with wide eyes, did she just say that? The beasts had long dissipated and only Tifa and Vincent were left in the dark dimension. He wore the same clothing he wore during their journey and the red-eyed brunette realized she was doing the same.

His usual blood shot eyes were now glazed and filled with rejection. Guilt bit at her once more under his painful gaze. Before Tifa could move he began to walk away with slumped shoulders; he was leaving. Her traitorous legs refused to let her run after him but her will was so much stronger. She broke free of her frozen place and tried to reach him before he completely disappeared; she attempted to stop him with her words.

"Vincent! Come Back! Don't leave me! I'm sorry!" she continued to run but she began to wade in some kind of gooey liquid. She looked down and saw that they both had moved into a knee-deep pool of blood.

She let out a shriek; Vincent was at her side again, he lifted her out of the crimson fluid and carried her to the other side. As soon as her feet touched the ground, he was off again. Her will was wavering, why did she always hurt everyone that tried to help her?

"Vince… please. No, just stay. I'm really sorry, please don't go." Her knees hit the floor and her face was cradled in her hands; she felt like sobbing but she refused to cry. Something weighed on her shoulders, they were hands. The weakened woman looked up to see Vincent holding her at arm's length.

"Tifa."

"Hmm?"

"Mff Up…" His voice was muffled but his face was only inches from her face.

She gave him a puzzled look before he repeated her name.

"Tifa."

"Tifa!" His loud voice broke her from her dream and into reality; Vincent's face, in reality also, was only a couple of inches from her face. Everything began to throb again; her muscles burned, not excluding her throat, then came the loud thump that pounded within her skull. Too wrapped up in her agony, she didn't notice how fast Vincent pulled away. She didn't see the tinge of red that bled into his cheeks.

"Hurry up your asses if you want that ride!" The arrogant man that was waiting downstairs was growing impatient. How long does it take to wake someone up?

"Can you stand?" Vincent was back at the side of her bed; alike her dream; he wore his all black attire, the red bandanna and the ever so famous crimson cape. But Tifa wore the clothing that Terry had given to her. It consisted of a male wrinkled and ruffled black button up shirt and a long jean skirt, which was _way_ too big for her though.

"I-" Only a whisper came out but her infected throat couldn't take anymore, it allowed no other words to come out. Trying to get of her own bed was harder since the room around her spun; she let hers legs drop over the edge of the mattress. _Don't let me fall, I'm trusting you legs._  
  
Tifa stood on her two legs for maybe a good minute before undertaking the task of her first step, she lifted her left foot to begin her walk but something snaked around her waist. The untouchable shooter now had his right arm around her waist, _his_ arm on _her_ waist.   
  
Vincent noticed she stopped. Did he surprise her?

"Walk."

"Oh!" It was if her body began to chant 'I told you so.' When she began to cough, causing her to shake. While she hunched over, Vincent's arm moved from her waist to her shoulders, he used every bit of will power he had to not roll his eyes at her dumb act. She shouldn't take his touch for granted, it was rare.

"What the fuck is taking you little bitches so fucking long?!" he spat every word as he walked up the stairs and into the doorway.

"I'm sick." Her voice was almost imperceptible but Cid could hear.

"That's not a fucking excuse! I gotta get home to my 'beautiful' wife." His hand flew up, his middle finger and index fingers made small quotation signs as he spoke the word 'beautiful'.

"Well, when you feel like a wire coat hanger just got shoved down your throat. Give me a call and tell me if it's a good reason to be slower than usual." A death glare hit Cid, the way she whispered it made it sound more intimidating than anything Vincent and Barret could ever muster.

Cid's face grew pale and finally shut up; clearing his throat, he spoke a new quiet tone instead of the demanding one before. "Well then… let's get going I guess."

They had finally reached Cosmo Canyon, Cid had gotten whatever information he needed about Tifa's condition and he had contacted Nanaki to let him know that they'd be visiting. Once the Highwind landed, Vincent supported Tifa as she walked to Nanaki's home. Cid decided to take the Highwind, saying Shera couldn't be trusted for such long periods of time and that he needed to make sure she didn't destroy Rocket town by now… except with much more swears in there.

"I believe this is it." Tifa looked up and saw a smiling Nanaki there to greet them.

"Hello, my friends. It has been awhile since I've seen you in person. Tifa… you look… er… good for a ill woman." Nanaki gave a toothy grin. "I'll take you to Dr. Chong in the morning. But for now, let's eat and rest."

Nanaki ate happily and made up most of the conversation for the dinner, while as Vincent poked at his odd looking food and sniffed everything before eating it; Tifa hardly touched her food because of… well… the whole burning, coat-hanger throat issue.

During the night, Vincent slept in the room across from Tifa's; both having nightmares of past loves. Nanaki called the doctor for Tifa during the night and waited for Cid's return. Everything about this night was so quiet and undisturbed; nothing could break it.

A loud crash and a string of curses blasted beside Vincent. Twisting his neck, he saw Tifa biting her lip and a broken cup that was originally on his nightstand.

"Tifa?" she looked up at the sound of her name and gave a bright smile; she looked slightly better.

"Hey." Yes. Yes. She looked better but didn't sound less ill; she resumed using the raspy whisper like before.

"What are you doing here? You should be asleep."

"I… didn't feel sleeping." The pale woman gave another cough but it was short lasted.

"What is it you want?"

"Can we talk?" She crawled onto his bed, taking a place beside him but not too close and let the blankets warm embrace surround her legs as she slipped her lap under them. She wore the black button-up shirt but decided against the skirt, the shirt alone reached her mid-thigh. Vincent was the complete opposite of her, no shirt but pants.

It was apparent that Tifa couldn't talk much but wouldn't willing go back to bed. Nightmares could scare the bravest man into insomnia; Tifa was no exception. The young fighter didn't realize how fast her throat would sizzle and burn, leaving only Vincent to speak about his life. For the rest of the night, she learned of his search to find Lucretia, which also led him to Nibelhiem on that faithful night. Lucretia had been Hojo's wife and he was punished for loving her, but now, he punishes himself for letting her die.

"I know it seems impossible but there is a way to get her back." Vincent's right arm draped over the slumbering woman's shoulder; he didn't even notice when she drifted off or when her head dripped down and began to lean against his shoulder.

The Sun slipped its fingers into the small room, as if it was afraid to disturb the gentle scene. But the daylight was inevitable. The cold executor couldn't help but stare at the martial artist; her hair and skin glowed with even the smallest bits of light. His eyes traveled down her bare collarbone then to her ruffled shirt; the first couple of buttons came unbutton during the conversation leaving her part of her chest to glow like her face. It looked so smooth. His metallic claw began to move towards her porcelain skin; hoping that it could feel through its gold exterior.

The tip of the sharpened index finger stroked south from her neck, he could almost feel the warmth of her body. The inhuman hand proceeded it path onto the collarbone when he could have sworn he began to feel the tender texture of her skin. Her nose suddenly scrunched up causing him to draw back his hand in seconds time before her eyes unlocked from its sleepy prison. Giving an innocent yawn, unaware of her previous encounter with Vincent's curious hand.

"Good morning." Her voice came out smaller than a whisper, she had pushed it too far last night explaining her life, excluding the Cloud incident, before Vincent decided to give her voice a break by taking up the talking responsibility and giving Tifa the listening job.

"Good morning." First time that Tifa ever saw Vincent Valentine even come close to a smile.


	5. My Thanks

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fic but I DO own this fic .  
  
So, how's everybody doing? Okay, I've officially no idea what's going to happen in this story anymore. This seems to happen to me a lot, I can plan out this WHOLE thing out but I always end up not following it and winging the whole thing. It usually ends up better than what I planned out too =).  
  
So anyways, I still have to know if you guys want this to be a lemon. So far, no one's said they have a problem. So I'm thinking of making it one... maybe XD. It matters on where this leads. So... how many times have a typed 'so' already?! Like... wow... I'm obsessed with this word... well not really but I have major writer's block right now. So (there I go again!!) I'm just going to my best of my ability with this chapter.  
  
BTW. If you think that Tifa being sick is like very important... it's NOT. So (like omfg there's that word again...) if you thought like 'OMG she's going to die but Vincent!!! GO SAVE HER LIFE!!!' then no. Just no. wrong idea haha I just needed her to be sick to get her out of Nibelhiem and for Vincent to ACTUALLY stay. Okie dokie everybody? OKAY! STORY TIME.

* * *

**My Thanks.**

"Tifa, I've gotten you an appointment with Dr. Chong for noon. Try to eat as fast as you can, we're already behind schedule." Nanaki spoke fluently as he finished his breakfast that consisted of equally odd food of the previous nightfall.

"What have you been doing for the last year?" The start of a conversation between Vincent and Nanaki began; Tifa was left to slowly chew and swallow her food as they moved into another room.

"I've been here in Cosmo Canyon. But I must admit I miss the thrill of adventure. What have you been doing?"

"I've… been searching for something."

"Ah. I see. Possibly I could tag along and help you. I have some searching spells that might come in useful." Companionship was _so_ _very_ tempting; everything in Vincent howled for him to accept Nanaki's help. During their journey, Nanaki was probably the one whom he spoke most with, everyone else seem to avoid him… except Tifa and Cid. Aeris never showed it very much but she would stay close to Cloud more often, all the while, Cloud was just distant to everyone. Barret was very judgmental of people, whether they were good or bad, he seemed to have decided that the ex-Turk was indeed 'evil' but trustworthy. Cait never seemed to care of anything, so it didn't matter. Though the young ninja, Yuffie, appeared to have some kind of infatuation with him, she ended up more loathing him for ignoring her very obvious hints. Cid didn't judge, he seemed to like someone to talk to that just listened, which Vincent was amazingly awesome at. Tifa… she didn't care about anything that he used to be, she saw him as a simple human. She had told him that once, she was having a nightmare and he woke her; the insolent girl refused to go back to sleep so they had talked for the remainder of the starry night. It was brazen that unlike the other shinobu, Tifa Lockheart was truly in love with Cloud Strife; the way she spoke of him, they way everything would become quiet and tranquil in her features when she did reminded him of himself and Lucretia. Even though the blond man was completely head over heels for the Cetra, who by the time of the conversation was still living, this red-eyed beauty never hated or even slightly disliked the Ancient.

_"She's in love with him, yes, but she doesn't love him. He isn't burned into her soul, I even love the burn. But. I think he really loves her and if he's happy than I'm happy." Was what she had said. _

"Vincent?" The red creature's voice prodded him back to the present. "Would you mind if I tagged along your little escapade?"

"… If that is what you wish."

"What about Tifa?" _Tifa? She was to go back to Nibelhiem… wasn't she?_

"What about her?"

"I think she'd might want to come."

"Did… she say something?"

"No, no, it's just. In her letters… it's obvious she might want to escape the memories."

"… I believe it would be better if she stayed there."

"I don't know if Tifa-" The beast's ears perked at the sound of footsteps. Tifa entered into view soon and pointed at the time.

Dr. Chong's office looked much more… civilized than Dr. Xiao's, it was actually a clinic. Nurses and other people dressed in clean white walked about in the small facility; Tifa gave them a small smile before heading into the room that Dr. Chong would be present in. Vincent slid into the seat next to Nanaki as they waited for the next hour or two.

Worry had long sank its infectious teeth into Nanaki. Dr. Chong was an expert with cures and such, what could be taking so long? His eyes swiveled to the right, watching the little of Vincent's expression he could see above his collar; it remained untouched by any feeling. The sight being of no comfort, the red fighter's eyes crawled back to the floor.

"Mr. Nanaki?" A very wutanian woman stood in a white lab coat; her hair was jet black and just past her shoulders. She was young and her features were defined with high cheekbones. "Yes?" A chill had crept its way into both of the men's bodies seeing her stern face.

"Your friend, Tifa, is going to be fine." The knots within the firey beast's stomach dissipated. "But she needs to take these pills twice a day and she'll need lots of rest. She should be up and going in two weeks."

Unknown to his companion, little balloons and confetti were being thrown around in Vincent's mind. But a simple question crashed the celebration; could he go now? Could he leave Tifa with the kind doctors or the protective citizens of Nibelhiem and be on his way with Nanaki? Or was Nanaki right that Tifa would want to come? She shouldn't. She couldn't. Ironically, she was probably the one who would understand his inner turmoil the most.

"Vincent!" Tifa stood beside Nanaki, both calling him into the real world.

"I… was thinking." _Great. Now they're going to think I can only process one simple task at a time._

"You know," Tifa's soft voice was bubbling with giggles as she tried to speak. "for someone who supposedly listens good… you don't"

It was twilight, Tifa had retired for the night, Nanaki had gone off on some business with one of Cosmo Canyon's many members leaving Vincent with his thoughts… and demons. He looked out the small windows and felt the cry to leave. Just leave. But obligation held him by Tifa's side, forcing him to watch her slowly regain strength over the two weeks.

_I wonder where to go now. _The young flamboyant young woman lay in her bed that she was confined to for the last couple of weeks. She didn't want to burden Nanaki for too long but Nibelhiem didn't seem very inviting anymore. She craved for the rush of battle, the blisters of the deserts, everything that an adventure would have crammed in it. Maybe Vincent would allow her to follow in his journeys to find Lucretia, speaking of the cloaked fiend, she hadn't spoken to him for the entire time she was recovering with the pills that Dr. Chong had given to her.

She'd been lying awake on her bed for two hours, something felt wrong. Shivers were running up and down her spine; yes, something was violent. Tifa stood silently, once out of her room she hear agonizing howls bellowing through the door that stood in front of her. Every scream was filled with such heart-wrenching pain, the young woman could hear the thrashing of the fabric; it was intimidating yet seducing. The voice was muffled through the shielding door; the warrior's heart pounded hard against her chest. Moans of anguish were tearing at her core; they were so pain-stricken. The young woman's hand was trembling as it gingerly touched the doorknob. _Come on, Tifa. You can do this. There's nothing to even be afraid of._ Only the sounds that were seeping through the entrance to the room made it seem like something was slowly pulling off the skin of a living man.

Open the goddamned door! Her hand grasped the knob with much more confidence and swung it open. There lay Vincent on his bed; he was thrashing and kicking at invisible assailants. Sweat dripped from his furrowed brows, his face was scrunched into horribly distressed features.

"Lucretia! … No…Stop!" His voice escalated then died down once more; it continued this wild then calm pattern. Both hands burrowed into his messy hair but flew out and continued to defend himself from unseen forces.

Tifa bolted to his bed and grabbed his wrists; something warm was on them… something wet. The Sun was peeking over the horizon making it possible to see the blood that leaked from various cuts on Vincent's arm and chest; the weapon used to cause them was his very own golden claw. It slashed his skin in its furry to ban the demons of his nightmare.

"Vince! Wake up!" Simple fear was apparent in her voice as she called to him, through the barriers of his mind. His screaming ceased; his eyes burst open with shock.

"Tifa?" _What the…?_ One of the most puzzled looks walked upon his face. Tifa was gasping for air, when had she started to hold her breath?

"You… were having a nightmares. You cut yourself. I-I'll get you some bandages." Moving to the bathroom, she dropped his wrists; she was still shaking. She came back not too long after, much more relaxed, with swathe in hand.

The time went by slowly and silently, Tifa watched as Vincent covered his wounds. A chuckle formed in his chest and he did nothing to hide it, the nervous girl looked up and saw a ghost of a smile on his lips. Something was in his eyes that was directed to her but she couldn't figure out what, but he let his eyes drop back to his half-white, half-almost-white-which-is-his-skin arms but never forget the gold too. It was almost time to 'get up' and Vincent still couldn't manage to say what he wanted to say, he continued to open his mouth then shutting it.

Snort. "Stop that!" Tifa's giggles refused to stay in and she finally forfeited, letting them to be heard. "Just _say_ it!"

"…" His eyes were upon her again with the same glint that she couldn't decode.

"What did you want to say?" Voices combated each other, fighting over Vincent's judgment. While as Tifa stared into his eyes, her mind trying see what should be so very obvious. It was right there but she couldn't see it! Wait. Was it? Could it be?

"Thank you." He moved quickly out of the room and to where Nanaki would have breakfast ready.

It was gratitude.


	6. The Location Of Thee?

Disclaimer: I don't own ff7. Well. I own a copy of the game but I don't know it that counts… hmmm.

I was reading through the older chapters and I picked up on like 10 mistakes but when I tried to fix it something was wrong with the server or something. So please ignore my mistakes. Plus I might take awhile for the next chapter.

-sigh- I've been really depressed lately because I just realized that I still like this guy I **used** to like. No. 'like' isn't even the word for what I'm feeling, before I started talking to this certain guy, I had crushes on like 3 different guys. Now that I started talking to him again, I can't even REMEMBER what I felt for the other guys. More so, one of those guys now likes me (I think). Everything's fucked up cause this certain guy that I'm head over heels for stopped talking to me like a day ago, it was like lets-not-even-try-to-talk-at-all ignore me. I'm just really stressed right now cause I've been having epiphanies for the last two weeks. And I don't open up to my friends much, when I do, it ends up picking up a knife and jabbing it into my back. And while it's still trying to pry the knife out and stab me again, it starts dissing me. The only reason why I started writing these weird crapped up stories is because its another way of venting out what I feel. Plus, it's easier to open up to you people because you're all pretty much strangers to me. I know you can't hurt me. =) I'm always the one who smiles, even when I'm not happy. That's the way it is with my friends, most of them don't know when I'm crying-suicidal-depressed cause I smile and laugh. I should get a Grammy or something for acting. Oh well… enough with me =) TO THE STORY.

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**The Location Of Thee?**

The tension was suffocating, thick and smoldering, the trio of comrades sat and ate silently. Eyes glanced at one another, something was different this faithful evening, Vincent was planning to leave with Nanaki tonight, Nanaki was scheming a way to avoid Tifa's implicating gaze, and Tifa was questioning her next move in her stratagem to attach herself to Vincent for his trip.

Dinner ended to quickly, mumbling quiet goodnight's, they headed to separate directions. But a voice caught Vincent before he could escape.

"Vince? Can we talk?" _Damn_. Her voice alone was like a siren's, seducing and needy. He slowly turned to face her, gentle eyes and a warm smile graced the fist fighter's face. The gunman simply nodded and walked toward her.

"I was just wondering… where do you think I should go after this? I mean I can't stay here forever right?" He was much taller than she was, she craned her head up just to look him in the eye.

"…Nibelhiem?" Suddenly, the wine-orbs that held his gaze fell to the floor, the hands that could destroy a man's bones were knitted together behind her back. Her left toe was drilling its way into the ground.

"Oh."

"Did you have something else in mind?" _Oh god, you're just setting yourself up._

"Well… I was wondering if I could go and help with your search for Lucretia." The words came out quickly, drenched in nervousness.

_Hahahaha. Bring her. I can't wait to get my claws on her._ Chaos' gleeful laughter filled Vincent's ears. What could he say? No? And if so, his reason would be what? That the thing in his head wants to kill you? How would that sound? 'Oh, Tifa, I'm sorry. The demon_ in my head_ wants slaughter you mercilessly'?

"…"

"Vince?"

"…If you'd like." _I'm going to regret this._

----Next Morning----

The trio left Cosmo Canyon after grabbing several books, Cid had informed them that a man in Rocket town also had some search tools that might come in useful. Her hair was blowing in the wind, it was like a silk sheet being held in the breeze. His unyielding eyes watched Tifa intently, she wore a white blouse with a plaid sweater vest over it, to finish her odd outfit was a long plaid skirt, and it went just bellow her knees. Cid insisted that they head back to Nibelhiem to pick up her gloves and some clothing, one thing the sharp-eyed man noticed was that the woman's clothing style had taken a very sharp moral turn. Her wardrobe consisted of unflattering shirts and shapeless bottoms. The cloaked figure that stooped in the shadows pondered her sudden change.

It didn't matter; they had arrived at Cid and Shera's quaint home, in which a very pregnant Shera answered the door. Nanaki, once again, made up for most of the speaking. Tifa seemed uneasily quiet under Vincent's suspicious stare; something was different about her. Something was off.

But another day was soon claimed and the Sun was barely peeping over horizon now. Cid seemed much more jolly with his arms around his wife, Nanaki persisted that they wait until the next day before investigating this man with helpful tools and such that could search for virtually anything.

Her claret eyes was burning a orange tint as it reflected the sky's changing colors, she had lost interest in the conversation long ago, instead, her attention was drawn to the setting Sun. Unknown to her, another pair of vermilion eyes were trying to peer into her very soul. Her body was absolutely delectable, yes, but Vincent could hardly see any of its smooth curves through the layers she wore. _It doesn't matter…_ something deep inside him made him feel apathetic about her figure, rather, he was in a bout of a trance, completely bewitched by the way her face seemed. Exactly like the morning when she had seek for his comfort in words, the night she had learned of his journey. But this time, he could see the way her eyes seemed like a child's, naïve to everything outside of the window. Thinking that it was rainbows and lollipops, plain peacefulness glowed with her irises… but something familiar crept inside them.

"Hey, Vincent! Let's go bar hopping!" The chain-smoker called for his presence, seemingly feeling much more favorable of the onyx crowned shooter. He managed to pry his eyes off Tifa to see that even Nanaki was following on the drinking trip; he was about to refuse when a hand rested itself on his shoulder. Looking up, the same cherry eyes crashed into his own, once again, the raw emotion that was there a second ago was masked behind hundreds of barriers.

"Come on, Vince." _When had she adorned me with that nickname?_ "It could be fun. I mean, we could have one last vacation before we start working our butts off searching the planet, right?"

There it was, that smile. It brightened the room like a fluorescent light bulb but it was just that, manufactured, unnatural. But if you were in the dark, you would still invite it with open arms. Oddly enough, the cold-hearted ex-killer could not refuse her smile, it was like a urge that could not be denied. He simply nodded in agreement.

Cid's boisterous laughter boomed into his ear, Nanaki's drunken howl followed. Vincent sat in the stool right of the two intoxicated patrons, Tifa sat to his left sipping a Screwdriver, he hardly touched his scotch on the rocks though.

"I'm going to the washroom for a second, okay?" Her skirt swirled as she stood and moved towards the restroom sign.

The moment she left her seat it was filled with a bodacious blonde, her eyebrows were perfectly shaped over intense blue orbs. A tight burgundy corset top stretched over an impressive chest; her black mini skirt clamped on her hips leaving her silky legs in sight.

"Hi." Her voice was incredibly sensual. Vincent gave her a sexy smirk before turning in his seat to face her. One-night stands that mean nothing can't be counted as cheating in his opinion, sometimes he loved the way his morals worked.

"Hey, baby. Looking for a good time?" Slurred words and a wolf call made its way to Tifa as she exited the ladies' room. Disgusted shivers shook her body, she hated it when men did that… _unless it was Cloud_… Ignoring her mind's voice and the drunken commands, she proceeded her way back to her seat. Once in earshot, she heard a hearty laugh. She froze in her spot. Someone else was in her seat, someone flirting with Vincent. The golden-haired bimbo's hand was resting on his forearm, she leaned into him, eyes closed and pursed lips. Something wrenched in Tifa, her right eye gave a twitch; she hated the way that slut was kissing Vincent, she hated the way Vincent let her, even smooching back.

What's wrong with me? Why am I mad?! This realization confused her thoroughly. _Because… because he loves Lucretia! He should be loyal to that love… like how Cloud should have been loyal to me…_ The insanity over a simple kiss… that didn't even include her!

The kiss ended and they continued to chat; a hand traveled up Tifa, from her thigh and started to pull up her skirt. Startled, deadly instincts kicked in before her mind could retaliate, her elbow flew back and a loud crack sounded.

"AHH! You bitch!" The martial artist turned to face her groper, blood dripped from his nose. "What the fuck's wrong with you?!"

"What the fuck's wrong with me?! What in mother fucking hell's wrong with me?! You go off touching me like I'm yours to grope, you sick bastard! I should be smashing your shitty face into the floor right now!" She hated when men leered at her, but she utterly despised it when they would touch her. Frustration that she hadn't managed to work off ever since Cloud's suicide was surfacing, not to mention the scene she had witnessed just before.

"I'd like to see you try, honey." The rugged man pulled out a flick knife. "Usually I'd hate to cut up such a hot face but I'll make an exception for a whore like you."

The twitch. The slight opening of her mouth, showing her clenched teeth. Balled fists. The most earth-quaking feature of anger Tifa had was her eyes, it was like ice but it would scorch you, it was the look of someone who was the dealer of Death.

"I was always told not to play with filthy trash, you never know where'd it been. But I'll make an exception for you." Now her voice was murderously low, darker then when she had first threatened Cid. The more happy, innocent angel you were, the more vile, homicidal of a demon you could be.

Her foot came up quickly, easily disarming the man. Repulsion burned bright within her, she couldn't stop. Her fist went down and slammed into his gut, forcing him to bend over. Speeding with velocity that was unmatchable, her elbow cracked into his unsuspecting cranium. He was almost out of the conscious world but she wouldn't let him fall to the floor and slip into pleasurable abyss. Oh no, he didn't deserve that. Her knee came up, causing him immense pain in the chest. But a break came, he slowly stood up right.

"Fuggin' bitch." His words were sloshed around with blood in his mouth. Venom seeped into her expression, Tifa brought her fist back and punched him square in the face. The pervert went down, one of his friends caught him but was over-weighed and fell over under the man's weight. A cheer surrounded Tifa, in her furry, she didn't notice the crowd that had gathered. Most of them believed that she had done what was right but some looked fearful and worried.

With one hand, she shielded herself from the people's views as she moved towards the exit. One voice, though, rang over the rest.

"Tifa." Right next to her was Vincent… without the blonde. "I'm going to need your assistance with… them." He gestured towards the singing couple, Cid and Nanaki.

It was a quiet walk, no words came from either sober member of the party, while as the other two were quite loud. Shera showed them where to put the two before heading into bed herself, leaving the two alone.

"That… was some fight." The ex-Turk was impressed by her fighting abilities but didn't understand her flaring anger at a simple man.

"Yeah…" Her response was meek.

"You seem to have something genuinely against him."

"I… just don't like it when men do those things. Like touch me or look at me." _Unless it was Cloud._

"Unless it was Cloud." He voiced her thoughts, mine as well find out where the young fighter went.

"… You don't know that." She wouldn't look him in the eye, all of the sudden the toe of her boot seemed like a very entertaining show.

An awkward silence fell onto them. Hurt from Tifa's voice caused the tension to thicken, but then again, since when did Vincent truly care about being sensitive?

"It's obvious that you love him. You wouldn't mind if he leered at you. To tell you the truth, I think he might have loved in too." He didn't believe in what he had just spoken but he couldn't imagine leaving the sentence with a sour ton; she didn't seem to take it like he thought.

"Then why did he leave me?!" her outburst was surprised him to say the least. "I gave him everything! If he fucking loved me then why would he _leave_?!"

Leave? He _left_ her? _Cloud_ left _Tifa_? The gunman truly believe that it would be Tifa who got fed up with the leader's negligence over her to the Cetra… not him to leave her.

"Leave… you? Where did he go?" All of a sudden, her toe seemed interesting all over again.


	7. Kissable Tears

Disclaimer: Don't own ff7. I own a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that says 'lost heart – please return in one piece' though. =)

How've you been? I'm trying to update as fast as I can but I need reviews to do that. I NEED MOTIVATION!! So yeah, please write ANYTHING and then send to me. –sigh- I don't feel like typing much. So review. That's all.

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Kissable Tears.

"Leave you? Where did he go?" A chill seeped into Tifa, she couldn't look at Vincent. A familiar burn formed behind her eyes, water began to fill them. The box that was held everything about Cloud creaked open, until every memory, every picture; every feeling that was _Cloud_ came bursting through.

No answer, all the curious man could view was the top of her head. Seconds past, still no reply came.

"Tifa?" It was a simple question, where did he go? To search the world for adventure? Where?!

"…" Her hands were fidgeting behind her back once more, but her feet remained unmoving.

"Where did he go?" Irritation was unmistakable in his voice, nothing in his imagination could have thought up what she responded.

"He killed himself! Are you happy now?! He flung himself over a fucking cliff! He would rather jump off a cliff then be with me!! Are you satisfied?! Love will prevail all, his love for _Aeris_! Now you know everything about my life! What _else_ do you want to know!? My grocer's name?" Miraculously, no trailing tears spilled over her eye's rim. Her arms were thrown in the air during her eruption but now lay dormant at her sides.

She was bare. Completely stripped of all shields, her eyes cried so much… agony. Everything he thought she was, wasn't there anymore. 'The once vibrant red was now a rusty roan red'… _how…?_ Even the flare of life had dyed down to the simplest spark, formerly a large bon fire.

_'He would rather jump off a cliff then be with me!!'_ Those words continued to ring in his head, empathy he'd never experienced before overflowed him. Years of patience only to feel the sting of rejection. Love could be so cruel.

"Everything. He was my past. My life." It seemed like she was whispering to herself more than Vincent. A single tear made it victorious way down her pale cheek; she looked surprised. "I… haven't cried since my dad died. I guess everything's just been bottled up but you can't keep filling it up and not expect to have it burst open one day…"

She bowed her head again but two hands cupped each side of her face. One was warm and enticing, the other was cold and chilling. Using minimum force, he ushered her to look up at him. She was vulnerable; it was obvious in her eyes. His lips were pursed as he leaned down, kissing away the lone tear. His eyes were shut; slowly, her eyes began to shut also. Everything around them disappeared; they remained in that position for some time. Both being hypocritical, Tifa, vowing not to let men to touch her and revel in it. Look at her now. Vincent, swearing never to touch another woman with any tender emotions but Lucretia. Look at him now.

His lips left their place, pulling back and looking her straight into her red irises again. He, too, was deprived of all masks, showing equal rejection and heartache.

"I'll still be here." Four simple words meant everything to this broken angel. The rest of the night proceeded normally; Vincent looked away, rebuilding his façade. Tifa, also looking away, pulled back her forces and moved to her room.

Thump, thump, thump. Gurgle. Flush. His inky hair was matted from sleep; someone was thudding around the house. A second person soon joined the movement.

"Move!" The voice was feminine.

"Ugh… don't talk so loud…" An 'oof' soon followed. Vincent, with his curiosity growing, exited his chamber to see Cid with his head against the bathroom door, which was closed. The expression on the pilot's face obviously showed that he had received a hangover from his former festivities. The entrance opened and Shera staggered out, looking very ill. Morning sickness. The shooter couldn't help but grin smugly as Cid crawled towards the toilet bowl.

Valentine finally managed to get in to the washroom to get ready for the day; he headed downstairs, following the succulent aroma of bacon and eggs. He entered the kitchen and looked up at the persons seated around the table, all of the sudden, the regularly quiet man let out a bark of laughter. Nanaki and Cid both looked miserable with migraines, the laughter was directed specifically at Nanaki though, he wore a pair of sunglasses that's rim was heart shaped and a bright red.

"Shut. Up." He spoke with an undertone; his own voice made his head spin. Tifa pinched her nose as she walked to the table and set a grayish green liquid in front of the two men.

"Drink this. It'll make you feel better." Simply the faintest waft of the drink was nauseous; Cid gave Tifa a gaping fish look.

"Just drink it." Cid pinched his nose between his index finger and thumb. After swallowing the vile beverage, he made a face.

Nanaki glanced at Cid's hand then at his own paws, noting that he didn't have the option of numbing some of the taste by pinching his own nose.

"Lucky bastard." The fiery beast mumbled before chugging his cup of the odorous drink.

An eventful breakfast followed, the phenomenal cure drink worked, healing the two loud men's hangovers, allowing them to talk without wincing. While they ate, Vincent noticed that Tifa continued to glance his way. Occasionally, their eyes would meet but it would never last since she would avert her orbs of sight the second his met hers.

"So, I guess we could just walk to the guy's house after this. How's that sound?" The smoker who usually cussed like nobody's business was uncannily polite.

"…Uh… sure." Tifa answered but her eyes didn't leave Shera, she noticed that Shera seemed perfectly normal. A small _whoosh _sounded in her head… Cid was officially whipped. A smile cracked into a beam at the thought, Nanaki saw this and raised an eyebrow at her.

Eventually, though, the funniful breakfast ended and they headed to their rooms to get ready to meet the man. Vincent began to ascend the stairs when her voice called to him once again. _Lucretia_. He hadn't heard her for such a long time.

"Vincent…" She repeated the words, calling for him. Pleading for help.

"Vince?" He returned back to the present, he stood in the middle of the stairs, blocking Tifa's way. Embarrassed he began to run up quickly.

"Vince! Wait." He liked the way she spoke his pet name; it was just the way the fighter said it; so smooth, so lovely. Vincent stood on the top step while as Tifa had her place two steps down. He, now facing her, was still wearing the same outfit; Tifa, today, was clothed in a cream colored, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of white sweat pants.

"Yes?" His eyes traveled up and down her body, noting her outfit. Little gears within his skull began to crank. _Does she dislike men looking at her because she doesn't feel she'd be up to their standards?_ Cloud had destroyed her self-esteem, making Aeris a goddess. _But Aeris doesn't compare. Look at her._ Aeris and Tifa were both stunningly beautiful, in different ways. The Ancient was untouchable, you never wanted to touch her, afraid of tainting her. Instead you watch her from afar, bathing in her presence, feeling insignificant. Tifa was like a… life, you live it, you feel every possible emotion in a single moment. Her body was curvy and not a man alive could stand being in a room and _not_ touching her. She was real, but she still was like an angel that came from heaven but lived on the Planet. Not a fallen angel, no, definitely not fallen.

"I just wanted to say… thanks. For last night." Her smile was genuine; her eyes glittered like stars standing beside the Sun, which would be her flashing pearly whites. _Hmm_. Vincent never noticed the small dimple that was on her right cheek, it only revealed itself when she smiled her actual smile. It warmed him from the very inside, no wonder why people confined their secrets in her. Her smile made an identical one creep onto his lips also. Her smile. He loved it. _You love her._ Chaos' sneer sparkled with amusement. _You just fall in love with women here and there don't you?_

Receiving no reply, Tifa began her way up the stairs. Vincent was arguing with Chaos, trying to convince him that Tifa was simply a friend. When he saw that she was already past him, he had no time to stop himself from saying what he knew he shouldn't have.

"I'll always be here to kiss away your tears." _Hahahaha. Corniness! _The demon clutched its sides, laughing hysterically. But the demon's tamer was frozen at the stairs. Tifa hadn't moved either. Five seconds… ten…

"I'll remember that." With that, Tifa continued towards her room.


	8. Newly Found Faith

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the ff7 stuff. If I did, I'd make it a Vincent/Tifa . or! OR! Make Reno a bigger character!!! –ahem- yes.

Okay, so far, some people got confused I guess. Like in my characters, they don't like the way I portray Vincent. Or Chaos. I'll try to make some adjustments =) because I love you people. Uhh, plus I'm just wondering. I could make this a shorter fanfic or I could make it like a LONG one; I personally think the longer one would be better but it's up to you. If you wouldn't mind a longer story then woo-hoo, but if you'd prefer a short and sweet story. Inform me… please. =)

Like… before I told you about this guy that I fell for and then stopped talking to me, remember that? Well guess what? My friend who's totally infatuated with this guy now hates him because she says he lies and stuff. But then her reasons aren't that strong, but her life not mine. I still love her =) but she told me that he got a girlfriend, which was like 'yes, let's just stick hand in here and rip heart out. What's holding it in? Oh, look. It's hope, let's just beat that over the head with a spikey mace.' but she doesn't know I'm completely into him too so she keeps trashing him. –sigh- and I actually **dated **this guy before, but at that time I was young(I was 12 and now I'm 13, not much of a change but I grew up more XD) and I wasn't really ready for such a relationship and now I've lost my chance and I'm overwhelmed by regret. Yeah. Pathetically depressing but that's my life. =) I'll still write and smile, don't worry. **Story time, eh?**

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Newly Found Faith

Their pace was leisurely, not in a hurry, towards the man's house. Nanaki conversed happily with Tifa, he spoke fondly of his life in Cosmo Canyon. Cid walked aimlessly, staring down at the small slip of paper that held the man's address. Vincent tried his best to ignore the odd glances that he was attracting from pedestrians.

"Alright, I don't give a shit where this guy's fucking house is anymore!" Frustrated and stressed, the smoking pilot began a temper tantrum, screaming obscenities and stomping his feet. In the midst of it, he dropped the directions, in which Vincent picked up and began to lead. Only a few minutes later, the vampire-like man led them to a small house, the address matched the one on the parchment. Seemingly embarrassed, Cid shoved passed Vincent and banged on the door.

A man with spectacles the size of a fist answered the door, his physique was puny and his hair was gray with stress and stuck out in a nest-like mess. He wore a white lab coat that, surprise surprise, was misbuttoned.

"H-Hello." His voice was eerily like of Hojo's. The vileness of a rat's but deep with mistrust.

"I called earlier, fuck, your house is hard to fucking find. Anyways, we're the ones searching for something?" Still bitter about being out-shined by Vincent, Cid took control of the speaking as they entered the living area of the quaint home.

"A-ah, Y-yes. C-come in." He moved, allowing them to enter. "M-my name is Fong. I m-mean B-Ben! Ben F-Fong."

"I'm C-C-Cid." The aerial navigator mocked but a sharp slap from Tifa set him straight. "Ouch! Alright, fine. The fucking broad that just slapped me is Tifa, the bastard over there's Vincent. And that's Nanaki."

"W-well. Uh. T-that is, um. I understand y-your looking for a p-particular… thing?" Ben seemed very fidgety; overly nervous.

"Not _thing_. A person." Narrowing his eyes at the squirmy man, Vincent also received a smack from Tifa. Her glare expressed 'be nice'.

"O-of c-c-course! I, uh, I apo-apo-apologize!" Mr. Fong shrank into a minute form under the tall, dark and handsome man's simple glare. Turning away from the frightening guests, Ben left them in the living room as he headed into another room. When he returned, in his feeble hands was a _huge_ book that it looked centuries old. On the front, gold letters of some sort were scratched into the odd looking material.

"This… um… s-should help y-you. It c-contains many s-spells, um, f-for searching… yeah." As he talked, Nanaki studied the heavy book, outwardly curious of its origin.

"Where did you find this…?"

"I- my- this… um. I-it, uh, y-you see, uh." Fong's stutters made it impossible to figure out what he was trying to say.

"Pardon?" Tifa's voice was soothing and encouraging, managing to calm the twitchy man.

"M-my colleague, h-he gave it t-to me." Readjusting his glasses, his gave them a nervous look.

"What does the book do?" Nanaki sounded more understanding than the rest but a tinge of annoyance was still evident. "Where did he find it?"

"…"

"Come on! Talk! It not that hard!" Cid was the first to finally have enough of the man's constant stuttering.

"I, um,"

"Come! On! I don't have all fucking day!"

"It's from the Chronos Temple." This time, his voice a low, confident undertone, as if positive of what he spoke.

"The thing's from a temple; a fucking temple. Why are you scared of a fucking book from a fucking temple?!"

"I-It's from t-the temple o-of destruction; Chronos."(a/n not CHRONO cross chrono, but chrono is the name of the Saturn's god. I like saturn... don't know why.)

"Oh, man, are you trying to fuck with me?!" The smoker waved his hands in disbelief, "The Temple of Kracno!"

"…C-Chronos."

Tifa stuck out a hand to keep Cid's ever-flaring anger from touching the bumbling man. "Now, Ben, explain."

All eyes now lay on the frail man. Tifa stood in front of him, behind her was Cid. To his left was Nanaki. To his right was Vincent, stoic and unyielding.

"L-Last year. I-I found it. It h-had all this d-dark stuff in it. B-blood!" He gestured towards it, over Nanaki's shoulder. Vincent left his place and flipped through the book; his eyes widened, the ancient inscriptions within it spoke of the Lifestream, life and death, and all of their boundaries. Most of the spells were for Resurrection or Crossing Into The Lifestream; meaning that the choices of spells were to bring the dead back onto the Planet from the Lifestream or sending the living into the Lifestream from the Planet. It also had many searching spells, mostly for 'souls'. The main ingredient in these spells was blood, definitely dark.

"What's it have inside, Vin?" Cid broke Vincent from his trance with his newly acclaimed nickname. Blinking twice before realizing that the hateful pilot now wore a favorable grin. _At least he doesn't hate me as much anymore._

"Lifestream." Unable to break free from his habit of speaking in a monotone, the ex-Turk sounded plain. _Lucretia, I can bring you back._ Like a bucket under a faucet, hope drained into Vincent. Thoughts zoomed back and forth inside his brain.

"T-The hieroglyphs told o-of, um. Y-You can't m-meddle in those k-kind of a-affairs! Use it f-for searching, a-alright but n-none of the l-life things!"

"I will do as I like." From hopeful, Vince's eyes turned bone chilling towards Ben. Picking up the book, he began to leave. Tifa shot Cid and Nanaki a desperate look before running to catch up to the cold ex-killer.

"Hey, don't you think that was a little harsh? I mean, he was just freaked out. That book has some powerful stuff in it." Tifa defended Ben's name but all of her words crashed and burned at Vincent's deaf ears; his mind was whirling, every one of his thoughts were fueled by Lucretia.

Cid and Nanaki soon caught up with re-enforcing questions but soon noticed the glint in his eye and knew he was beyond reach, if he was to zone back in to reality, it'd be on his own. They decided to leave him with the book and his musings. Vincent's mind was whirling; Lucretia fueled every one of his thoughts.

The gusts shook her hair out of their place; Tifa Lockheart stood on the deck of the Highwind. Cid had chosen to join in their expedition but of course with his wife by his side, so they headed to Rocket town. Nanaki was inside with Vincent, looking for a suitable spell that didn't involve a fatal sacrifice.

"What about that one?"

"Uhh… Essence of Cetra. I don't think we'll be getting our hands on that very easily." The red creature gave Vincent a pitiful look; he was so dead set on finding the perfect spell.

Flip. Flip. The sound of riffling of pages echoed deep into the night. Everyone was slumbering but Vincent; nothing would coax him to sleep. But the mixture of Chaos and _reading_ had pushed him in a nightmare-filled realm.

His world shook, but it wasn't painful.

"Vince. Wake up!" Was it the angel of his nightmare? No. It was Tifa's. His eyes drifted slowly open, his head lay on its side against the open pages of the book.

Her giggle was angelic. "Vince, maybe you shouldn't wake up. You look exhausted. Here, let's see."

Before he could move she whipped the block of pages from under his head and his skull felt the effects of gravity and plunked down onto the wooden table… hard. She leafed through it quickly but stopped abruptly.

"Hey… how about this one? The things we need don't sound that hard but… I've never heard of most of them." Holding it at his face, he skimmed the page. There it was. The spell that they needed. Right. There.


	9. Seeing Is Believing

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7. I simply own this story.

I've had **major** writer's block for the last couple of chapters and I still kind of have it. I'm just pretty much typing whatever pops into mind. So yeah, be gentle.

PS. I would really like it if I could get **33** reviews in all at the very least before I make another chapter . that's only asking for** 8** more reviews.

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Seeing Is Believing.

It had been two weeks since the journey had began, two weeks since Tifa had shown Vincent the Resurrection spell, two weeks. Vincent had shelled up and become more distant then before, only speaking when spoken to.

August 15th appeared suddenly on the calendar, yes, for the last two weeks they hadn't actually retrieved anything, they'd been flying around the world, questioning various people where to find the 'Captivation Materia' and the 'Aiya Dagger'. Those were the only two materialistic things that you would require for this physical part; the incantation and spell-casting demanded other things though. But Cid managed to redeem the whereabouts of the dagger.

Roaring with power, the Highwind flew towards Icicle Inn, within a village near there should sit an archeologist, one that held information on the small, spiritual knife. It took four days to arrive, Vincent moved swiftly off the large aircraft, not wanting to waste any precious time. Nanaki followed stealthily, excited by the idea of the soul-eating blade, Tifa slugged slowly out, her bangs covered her face. Cid was the last to leave his precious prize.

"Hey, Vin." The pilot whispered to the gunman, not wanting to be heard by the others. "You've got that fucking sharp eye, the hell you think is wrong with Teef?"

The young woman shook ferociously in the cold environment, but that wasn't what Cid was concerned about. Her eyes were glossy, ready to have tears bursting through; her expression was blank, she was drowning in thought.

"Cold perhaps?" His heart begged for him to care but nothing would get through the thick Lucretia blinds he had constructed in his mind.

They arrived at an inn that was in the nearby village; it was late, almost 12. The temperatures were still extremely cold, they decided to get one room, hoping each other's body heat would warm the room more than themselves alone. Upon entering the room, the bathroom stood to their right; a little further into the chamber, four beds in a row sat against the wall to their left and a window at the opposite wall from them.

"Hey… Tif, are you ok?" Gentleness touched Cid's voice, tenderness that had never been tapped into by anyone but Shera.

No answer came. The smoker gave Nanaki the signal and left, the crimson creature padded to Tifa's side, hoping for some kind of acknowledgment. But, once again, nothing crossed her features. Giving up after Shera tried, they all climbed into bed and entered a chilled slumber.

"…Happy birthday…" A sob followed. Vincent opened his eyes slowly; a beautiful silhouette stood by the window, voluptuous curves shadowed. He stood, seemingly in a trance, but once close enough he could see Tifa's fishtail. Salty tears rimmed her eyes, but none splashed out. She wore a small T-shirt, and sweat pants, hardly the clothing for such cold weather.

"…Tifa?" At the call of her name, the martial artist whirled around. A split second was all it took for her to latch herself onto his torso, sobbing into his black dress shirt. His muscled tensed before relaxing, letting hesitant arms wrap around her.

Realization stung him like agitated bee, August 19th, Cloud's birthday. No doubt this day held memories for the weeping girl in his arms. He gazed out the window, looking at the clear moon. It began to blur; he tried to move his arms to rub his eyes but realized that he hadn't the energy to lift his arms. Seeing that the wall that the beds were shoved up to was quite near, he moved, he ushered her to move just enough so they could sit. They simply sat there for moments, possibly hours; Vincent's eyes felt heavy, so did the rest of his body, Tifa still clamped onto his middle, crying her eyes out.

A scent surrounded her, a mix between roses and rain. Tifa tried to move but arms held her in place. Her eyes shot open, afraid of what she might find but landed on a peaceful looking Vincent. He looked absolutely angelic. A simple smile graced her lips as she relaxed, slightly cuddling deeper into his arms. The curtains were drawn, the Sun was visible in the summer sky, and this wouldn't be the right time to indulge in someone's arms. They had a mission. Detaching herself from him, Tifa began the process of standing.

Groan. The warm blanket disappeared, Vincent exposed his red eyes, raising his human hand to wipe away the sleepiness from them. The tepid sunrays were shadowed, a familiar figure blocked it. Finally, his eyes could focus properly, Tifa crept slowly from himself.

"Tifa?" Her body froze in its place. She turned slowly, wearing a dazzling smile.

"Morning Vince." Instead of continuing her way, she faced him and kneeled. "You know what?"

"…What?…" Suspicion was apparent in his arched brow.

"I'm glad you let me come. I know I'm supposed to be the one trying to help you but…" Facing the window to her right, the fighter shut her eyes, kissing the sky and the clouds. "You've been the one who's been making my life easier. Helping me get over Cloud."

"You… have been assisting much." Her divine beam was directed at him again before she got up and left.

They'd headed to the museum; a professor supposedly had information on the dagger that they needed. Upon arriving in the large marble building, a young woman sat on the stairs, looking severely annoyed. At first glance, she seemed to be five foot four, black shoulder length hair and looked slightly aggressive. Her clothing consisted of a shirt that read 'You Suck. Deal With It.' While a pin with a picture of a chicken garnishing it. Also, she wore plain black pants and a pair of simple sneakers.

Approaching, they saw that her nametag read 'N. Pham' which, coincidentally was the same label of the one they were searching for.

Vincent cleared her throat, asking for acknowledgement. But before he could let out any words come out her hand's palm was facing him, signaling him to stop.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested. Now leave. I'm waiting for someone." With that, she turned on her heel and left thoroughly shocked Vincent Valentine and AVALANCHE behind. Once regaining some composure, he ran to catch up to the egoistic woman.

"I believe you misunders-"

"Look! I'm busy! Get a life! I'm waiting for someone!" But before she could blow them off again, Cid stepped in.

"You Nguyen(a/n pronounced Win. I'm naming characters after my friends, and I can't change what their parents named them.) Pham?" Completely ignoring Vincent and now turning to face Cid, she answered with an ignorant tone.

"Yes? Are you Cid Highwind?"

"Uh… yeah, I see you've met Vincent. My colleague." Gesturing to a incredibly annoyed-looking gunman. But her eyes showed no recognition.

"No… I don't believe so." With a jaw slack and eyes wider then ever before, Mr. Valentine looked absolutely in disbelief. Especially after the next words that exited her mouth. "I'm glad you're here, Mr. Highwind, there was this horrible vampire-look-alike that kept bugging me. He was traumatizing! I'm not sure where he went…"

Tifa felt tears trickling down her face, clutching at her sides, hoping they wouldn't split. Nanaki was rolling on the floor, salty water staining his face. Both behind Cid and Vincent, both unaffected by the murderous glare they were receiving from the shooter. Cid couldn't escape the humor's grasp, before long, he was by the martial artist, leaning on each other for balance.

"So! You guys ready to do this thing?" Nguyen seemed totally oblivious to all the laughter, simply prepared to find the dagger.

"Yes." Soaked with aggravation, Vince followed the woman into the museum. The others staggered with giggles and snickers behind them. But all noised ceased when they entered the professor's personal office, chickens. Everywhere. Chickens, pictures of them, stuffed ones, anything that was remotely related to chickens lined her office. It was eerie. Beady little eyes watched them from every direction, sharp beaks, ready for killing, was itching their skin. Maybe it was just paranoia… Maybe not.

"Now, I understand you want to find a… 'AiyaDagger'?"

"Yes." Vincent was the only one to speak, the rest still in a daze of fascination and fright. The odd lady led them to a book that looked freakishly alike to the Chronos book, except on the front of this one it read in silver words 'Hades' and made from the same way the other book was made. With odd material and ever more strange inscriptions.

Nguyen flipped it open, seemingly searching for something. "I think I read about in here somewhere. I've heard a lot about it. It's pretty dangerous, can I ask why you want it?"

"We have another book and we want to perform one of the spells." Tifa had broken from the enchantment, while as the other two stood, practically cowering under the dead stares of the dead chicken.

"Ah! Here's the little bastard." Pointing proudly at a page, a picture was provided. The dagger was curvious, but with only one sharp edge. The blade's brim would bend upwards in hill-like sleekness, then it would suddenly dive in a inward and downward arch into the cutter, making it gruesomely painful to remove if you were ever to stab someone with it. It looked like a hook because of the large groove before it continues its wavy way to the handle. "It should be in the… Aiya Temple. Also known as the Chronos Temple."

"You… got something with chickens?" Finally, words would not fail Cid. The rest of their party had managed to return to the present.

"I love chickens, they're absolutely entrancing!" She emphasized 'love' making it clear that nothing could make her think differently. Her life; her obsession; not any of their business.

Ahem. "Can you escort us?" Back to affairs, the red-caped man spoke in a humdrum.

"Oh, of course. I'll meet you here tomorrow at noon!" After they began their way toward the inn, Nanaki was whispering something to Cid. Suspicion was aroused within Vincent, noting that Tifa did not see them, leading the way. But he soon dismissed it.

They arrived in the inn late, it was dark, nine o' five to be exact. Tifa had taken a bath and dissipated into a slumber, Cid had done the same. Nanaki was getting ready to do the identical when Vincent entered the bathroom.

A warm shower would be nice. Glancing at the already used shower, temptation took over and all self-control had gone on a vacation. Stripped from all clothing, he got under the welcoming droplets. Relaxing to an extent he hadn't reached since the night before, stressed from that Nguyen woman. The evening before, with Tifa there. She magically built a barrier stronger than any he'd ever been able to manufacture against his demons. It was utter bliss.

You'd think it was barrier. You make me sick, Valentine. And I'm a monster… but compared to you. I don't know what I am anymore.

_What are you talking about?_ What was it talking about? Was it just playing with his mind once again?

_You just didn't notice me. Too caught up in your dream. I was there, you know. Remember what you were dreaming of? How could you do that do poor Lulu? Truly despicable.Hahaha._ No footage appeared when Vincent called for it. No images came to mind when he asked for something that he'd dreamed of the night before. Then. A picture of Tifa's smiling face popped up, it came flooding back.

He'd been in a meadow, the same grassy plain that he'd spent many _blissful_ times with Lucretia. He stood on the very spot they'd first committed their sweetest sin. Then there she was, Lucretia. Sitting in a distance, he'd crossed the distance quickly. Dreams never worked on logic, next second she was standing, ready for a kiss. Vincent given it to her, her lips were so soft. Like cushions, he sank into them. It felt so right, so justified. He just wanted to peep, just a peek of her gorgeous face, even if his sight would be of a horrible angle. But when his eyes were opened, her eyes were uncovered also. Instead of sensual green, there was animated crimson. Tifa's crimson. Vincent knew it was her but something wouldn't let go, he couldn't pull away. On contrary, he deepened the passion. He finally succeeded ripping from her saccharine lips, that was where the first image came from, Tifa smiled at him. That smile he loved. The right cheek dimple, oddly, he remembered every detail of that grin. His lips were magnetized towards hers again, unable to stop they continued. But… before he could explore more, he awoke.

Though, no guilt washed over him, he felt something else. What was that supposed to do? _Dreams never work on logic. It meant nothing. But I love Lucretia. So how come I don't feel guilty?_ Reaching out, he grabbed a towel. He dried his lithe form, and dressed into some pants but left his shirt off, he felt bizarrely hot in the chilly cold. The smallest voice in his head answered his question. _Because you only feel guilty when you know you did something wrong._ He did do something wrong, does this mean he felt something for Tifa? Of course not. No one could ever believe such rubbish, how could he possibly?

Leaving the washroom, he saw that everyone had fallen asleep, his hand was prune-like. He was in there for a _long_ time; the clock read eleven seventeen. Vincent reached his bunk before noticing a small paper with some messy scribbles on it.

_"Should there be more you should be telling me?" _On the bottom signed Nanaki with a comical and inquisitive smiley face, however the creature managed to write was beyond any reasoning. Turning it over, Vincent saw the image that was supposedly secret; but Nanaki must have caught it earlier.

The picture was of Vincent and Tifa that morning, both held each other in complete serenity. The slumbering woman's right arm circled behind his waist while her left hand clung to his shoulder and her head rested on the cold man's chest. Vincent's golden claw lay on her the crook of her elbow, originally on her shoulder. When his human hand found its place on his thigh, his legs were propped up on each side of her. Yet there was more, it was no surprise that a smile glued onto her expression but the awe was the ghostly smile on his own face. Not at all forced, wholly out of happiness.

So there was more. So much more that Vincent partly didn't want to know about let alone try to tap; but also couldn't control his rare human emotion, the fiery of curiosity. The picture was all the proof he needed, there was more. Seeing is believing. Damn it.


	10. Retrospection

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7… or do I…?

WeEEeell I didn't get 33 reviews but I guess it never matters. =) I DID, however, get some nice reviews. A page for everyone that reviewed me! (no order)

Cobalt dragonfly:

You said I should put more detail into the movement when Tifa was crying. You were SO right. LoL I re-read it and even **I** got confused. So to you and anyone else that got puzzled in my extreme lack of detail in that area, please go read it again and if you still get confused. Tell me =) L.u.L. (love you[u] lots)

Ezri-Candy:

=) I hope the plot bunny visits you soon! I loved emerge –ahem- as I said in the review. That bunny better hurry its ass up before my foot goes flying into it. =) Thanks for reading (I'm guessing) all my chapters and stuff L.u.L. (love you[u] lots)

Tifa-sama:

Hi de ho, there. Yeah, I guess I don't need a certain amount of reviews to update, but I just needed to know that people actually READ my fanfic. Now I know =) thanks for reviewing by the way! I've got writer's block… I swear… this thing is like permanent or something =S I'll try my best! L.u.L. (love you[u] lots)

Kurmoi:

Hi! I don't think you managed to read chapter nine yet… or maybe you did. You seem to review almost every chapter, in which I'm very appreciative for, so I was just wondering. =) L.u.L. (love you[u] lots)

Sephiroth2021:

I'm sorry you didn't like my perspective on some parts, like the Chaos part. I also re-read that part and began questioning it too, I got a second opinion from one of my friends and she also thought I should change it so I think I did… I have those lapses… I'll check a little later… . well I haven't heard from you for awhile, hope you're still a reader. L.u.L. (love you[u] lots)

Mystic-Hoshi:

I think this'll be a long story too but I'm not making any promises since… well, I just don't plan very much . thanks for caring before… I think you cared =S LoL all in all, hope you continue reading and reviewing! These really DO brighten my bleak day. L.u.L. (love you[u] lots)

And to ALL my readers, I LOVE YOU! Hope you review me soon and continue to read. Some people that didn't get mentioned:

Ann2 SS/Destiny Daae Tifa Valentine PandoraLockheart The Jack of Spades TiFa4ClOuD4EvEr Shadow Shi13

If I missed you, I'm SO sorry!!! PLEASE TELL ME!!! =) aside from mirri since I already give you Mimi hugs in real life . And you owe me a lunch!

* * *

Retrospection

Tifa's conscious mind had returned but she hadn't opened her eyes yet. No light shined through her eyelids; it wasn't morning. But shuffling was moving closer, so close. Suddenly, it stopped. A hand slipped onto the fast fighter's thigh, without a pause, Tifa's irises shot wide, seeing a shadow beside her.

Slowly, she managed to adapt to the still darkness. Shera smiled patiently at her, the clock by her head read a simple three zero two.

"What's wrong?" Stifling a yawn was much harder than it sounded; the martial artist was still exhausted from the lack of sleep from the recent night. Something was definitely troubling Shera, dark circles… circled her eyes.

An exasperated sigh escaped. "Do… do you think this… journey we're going on is dangerous?" That was out of nowhere. This adventure _would_ have its risks but nothing as bad as the last… I mean with the whole crazy silver haired guy, evil alien and giant meteor hurling towards us.

"It… I-… it might be a little risky but nothing big, no worries Shera." A radiant smile was wasted in the dark, but the sincerity in her voice reached the fretful woman.

"It's just- I'm, I'm pregnant. And if I was to give birth in the heart of all this? What would happen?" Anxiety stressed within her tone but she gave no time for Tifa to speak, she continued to pour out her issues. "Worse yet, what if Cid was to be injured? Or killed?! How could I manage on my own?"

Her weight sagged down onto Tifa's bed, and the sniffles began. Thinking of the night with Vincent, Tifa wrapped her arms around her wailing form. Though her sobs didn't quell, Shera was comforted.

"Everything's going to be alright, nothing will ever happen to Cid. He's tough." Just above a whisper, Tifa's voice reassured Shera. Hidden from them, bloody eyes in the bed next to Tifa's was burning into them. Vincent watched ahead, watching Tifa do her thing; doing what she'd been known to do ever since he'd joined AVALANCHE. Not a wink of sleep had he received, not after his reminiscence of the dream. He'd compared the photo to the real Tifa for over an hour before deciding to get into bed, but even in the plushy bunk, sleep could not overcome the raging storm of thoughts that writhed within his mind.

The weeping subsided and the pilot's wife moved back to her bed that she shared with Cid. The order they slept in was Tifa, Vincent, Nanaki but Shera and Cid would share a bed together. How sweet. Though the night was gorgeous, Tifa couldn't sleep… but she couldn't stay awake. Depression washed over her, but no tears pricked her eyes. Was it depression? It was so hard to tell now a days. So, she just lied there, with a blank stare. _Cloud. Why did you go? Wasn't I enough? …Of course not. I used to think I was beautiful, you made me feel like that. But now I know the real you… the you that loves Aeris. You showed me how hideous I really am._ Continuing her vigorous attack on her self-esteem until the darkest moment before dawn arrived. That was when the memories came.

_She walked up to him from behind, hoping to catch Cloud by surprise. Letting a yelp of battle, she jumped onto his back, flailing her arms about. The park in Nibelhiem was beautiful, people walked amuck. Today was his birthday and it was her job to keep him busy. Yuffie the Ninja Extraordinary. _

_"Ahhhh!" With a quick move, Cloud had her in a headlock. "You big meanie!"_

_"You were the one that ambushed me from behind." That smirk, oh how she loathed that smirk. _

_"M-E-A-N-I-E!!! Wait. Cloud, I'm sorry, you're right. You don't deserve me calling you a meanie. It was stupid of me to think that hurting you with my pathetic muscles." Giving a puppy-like pout, Yuffie listened for his reply._

_"Hehe. You're right. You are so tiny, even for your age." Letting his ego grow, he didn't notice the innocent expression melt away from Yuffie only to be replaced by a devious grin._

_"Yeah, I can't harm you…" Practically glowing, Cloud kept his grip. "but I can definitely damage your reputation." _

_"Wha-?"_

_One big breath. "RAPE!! HELP! RAPE!!!" Screaming at full volume, the entire populace of the park turned to see Cloud holding Yuffie in a headlock. His ears, face and neck all burned with embarrassment, freeing Yuffie from his hold, the blonde grabbed her hand and led her to a secluded area. _

_"Yuffie! What the- You- I'm- argh!" A minute passed with no words, but before long, both burst into laughter. _

_"Hahaha! Did you see that chick with the black hair's face?!" The young girl roared. _

_Sigh. "I'm glad you came to visit for my birthday, Yuff." The hours crawled by and soon it was time for Tifa's big surprise. _

Tifa walked into the bathroom, staring into the mirror, the illusion she had fabricated ever since she fell out of her usual life in Nibelhiem began to leak and crack. How could she think that she would find happiness? When she was as happy as she could ever have been before? And now it was gone, how was it possible for her to find it once more? She remembered Yuffie and Cloud snickering as they told her that story; the retrospection continued.

_Cloud walked with Yuffie to Tifa and his house, it was almost seven and the sun was slowly sinking below the band of darkness. He opened the door and wave of incense hit him, the mistress of Wutai nudged him inside, Tifa's house was lit up with candles and the setting sun. Complete shock held its iron grip on Cloud, not allowing any attention to be spared on Yuffie, who was slipping out unnoticed. "Hi." Her voice was quiet, Tifa appeared in the doorway to the kitchen that was in front of him. She wore a black cocktail dress, the small spaghetti straps held it up. The back lay open and a slit ran all the way up her to her thigh. On this special occasion, her hair was put into a bun but the hair came back out from underneath it; it looked like a half-up, half-down hairstyle._

_"Wow… you look… amazing." Her clothing hugged her curves generously, making his eyes goggle out of his head._

_"I was thinking of you when I chose it out. Come on, I got dinner all set." Steak and pasta sat on the table, it looked scrumptious. They chatted happily, their victory over the meteor now stood at three months. Though it seemed to have moved to happened to fast, the dinner was gone and finished. Soon, the time to sleep was upon them but Tifa had pledged to do it tonight._

Tifa sat at the edge of her bed, she seemed to be listening to Nanaki intently but her mind had wandered down memory lane. Maybe she should be listening to him… let's not. Proceeding the anamnesis, another wave of bitter-sweetness seeped through her skin.

_"Cloud! Wait." The hero of the Planet stopped in mid-step and turned to face his best friend. She walked towards him, outwardly nervous._

_"Yeah, Tif?" The housemate was only inches from himself now. _

_"I-…" Glancing down, she seemed to collect up whatever courage she had. "I… love you." _

_Before anything else, supple lips pressed against his; they were unbelievable. Cloud stood there, completely dumbstruck when she pulled back. The invincible woman warrior was wounded, but not physically but emotionally. _

_"Sorry, I didn-" A rough kiss snagged her senses, everything was whirling. Cloud Strife, they same Cloud that conquered her thoughts and memories, was now kissing her. Her; Tifa Lockheart._

"Best birthday ever…" Tifa didn't even realize the words had escaped until Nanaki had heard it.

"Pardon?" Lucky for her, Cid stepped out of the washroom, screaming the time. It was eleven forty-five. They were going to be late. That Nguyen seemed to be insane already, what would happen if they were _late_?

Fortunately, during the way there, Nanaki had forgotten her slip-up. They ran towards the museum but Tifa's mind was still in the past. A rock snapped her back though. Her world went reeling but swift arms caught her, pulling her up, Tifa saw her savior, Vincent Valentine. His arms still held her and chills crushed her. Thump. Thump. Thump. Her heart was beating so loud, couldn't he hear it? What was she feeling? But the uncontainable smile that Nanaki gave Vincent made the gunman let release Tifa quickly. She gave a quizzical look towards Vince before following in pursuit.


	11. Meeting The Unacquainted

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 belongs to Square-enix or is it squaresoft? Meh, all the same.

Hi there! How y'all doing? I love Arby. Don't ask. Not the restaurant, though, I really don't like that place. –shivers- LoL. Thanks for the reviews. My writer's block is starting to… hop away? Do square things hop? I mean like… they can't roll… well most of its gone I guess. … -tick tock- umm… well then… OH YEAH! If you're a Tifa/Cloud fan or Aeris/Cloud fan, go check out 'Question of Sanity' of mine. =) Or if you're a Sephiroth fan, go check out 'Ensnared'. =) =)

* * *

Meeting The Unacquainted.

People rushed by, many of them were in discourse with someone across the Planet. Speaking into small cell phones. But Nguyen was not there, standing by the stairs like she had said she would be.

"There you are! Where have you been?! You're over an hour late!" A shrill cry shrieked into Cid's right ear, some how, from some mystery-hiding place, Nguyen managed to get right behind him.

"Holy fuckers! How the hell you get there?!"

"I walked." Her innocent, naïve play was irritating but it wasn't exactly an act…

"Are we going to find it today? Or research?" Before a brawl could begin, Nanaki started business. Eagerness bubbled within him, such an adventure was exactly what he craved for the last collection of months.

"Um, no guarantees but we're going to the temple."

Tifa tried her best to ignore the continuous stare Vincent was inflicting on her. Mostly because of the feeling she was experiencing every time she thought of him looking at her.

"When are we fucking goin'?" Growled Cid.

"Well, first we need to research on booby-traps! Silly child." Swiftly and subtle, she bit away Cid's patience slowly. Nguyen turned around and headed towards the doors of the museum, leaving an angry pilot whom was about to pounce onto the arrogant woman if a pregnant wife had not held him back.

Once inside her office, she threw several heavy books at them, all having 'Chronos' or 'Hades' in its title. Nanaki skimmed the context briefly, stopping to question Nguyen on something he'd find. Cid sat with Shera at the table by the door, both reading slowly and joking at the absurd drawings. Vincent sat in a corner interpreting the written pages, not dark but a corner nonetheless. Tifa sat boringly in the chair in front of Professor Pham's desk. The hours crawled by with not much progress, there was next to nothing on the traps in the temple.

Though they had found that there was three temples in all; Chronos, the destruction Temple; Hades, the Death Temple, and Ares, the War Temple. All were found by mistake, all were hidden until they were hit during some dig. Nothing in history read of these Temples, making it almost impossible to enter it. Some were successful in entering but none were lucky enough to live very long. Myths of curses were aroused at the deaths of Eric Hirshbeck, Anita Lang, Randeep Kooner and Alisha Porter.

E. Hirshbeck had found and excavated the Chronos Temple but when he exited he had been mumbling of a curse, two days later, he was found aged over half a century. Scientists refused to believe in a curse and said that a materia had been used on him. He had pockets full of treasures when he had exited though.

A. Lang had gone into the Hades Temple after someone else found it though the name was not available. She didn't return so they sent a rescue team to find her, they had found her near the exit but she had entered a vegetable state. Again, scientists had insisted that she had been hit on the head or something however, there was no sign of anything hitting her. She also was found with clothing lined with jewels.

R. Kooner went inside the Ares Temple, leaving it with several artifacts in which she had sold on the black market. She was murdered mercilessly, her neighbors mentioned hearing horses and metal clanking the night she was supposedly killed. Her next door neighbor and friend had said there were several men, dressed in armor entering her home. Horrifying details were mentioned on upon her discovery. Her body was slashed and smeared on her walls, and the room was painted with blood markings, possibly a warning. But no one could decipher it. Some walls were knocked down, as if something obscenely large had moved through the house. Her expression was of true agony.

A. Porter had re-entered the Chronos Temple five years after E. Hirshbeck's death, she had noticed that all of the archeologists had taken something from the Temples. Deciding that might have been one of the reasons for the curse, she had left the Temple without anything and came out with no harm. She had written a book on its contents but with vague details. During work, she had become restless and childish, her doctors had unearthed the cause; her mind was reciprocating. She had passed away of normal causes at the age of 72 about twenty years ago. She was the most recent visitor of any of the Temples.

Fear had struck many lives at these signs, at the omens. Twenty years had whooshed by without a single disturbance touching the death-ridden Temples.

"So… I guess we're just going in then!" Nguyen smiled brightly after finding all there was, grabbing flashlights and such materials for the excavation. An hour later, they had driven out in the professor's car to a chilly tundra. Snow swept down on them but they continued moving until a mountain came into view through the blizzard.

"We're here!" Nguyen's voice yelled over the storm. She stood by the mountain as if waiting for it to open magically. "It should be right around here!"

"Are you sure?" Tifa wrapped her purple scarf around her neck tighter, the wind was nibbling her body heat away from her navy sweater and her jeans also did nothing to grasp the warmness the flew away from her legs. "I don't see anything!"

They began to walk around the area the map pointed to. A shrill scream sounded from Shera, she was on her knees, looking at a gaping hole that had swears booming from the bottom. Cid had fallen threw the entrance. Once everyone had jumped down, the air had become unsettlingly warm, like a summer day.

The stone corridor was long and dark, no torches or flames lit the way, making the flashlights come into use. They continued down until Nguyen, who led the way, stopped abruptly. A single tile stood higher than the rest, a trap. Carefully stepping over it, they continued. Several traps lay intact when they reached a large circular room. By Nanaki's calculations, the mountain had been hollowed out specifically for this chamber.

It had vines growing the walls, and an eerie blue glow emitted from them also. In the center lay the Aiya Dagger on a pedestal. Nguyen stepped into the blue luminescent towards the dagger, she clamped her hands onto it.

"Catch!" A swift snatch and she chucked in to Vincent. A rumbling began when Nguyen began to move back towards them, all of the sudden, more vines appeared and formed a wall shielding Vincent from Nguyen.

"Shit!" Cid pulled out a fire Materia and cast it but nothing happened. Not 'it had no effect' but nothing appeared. No energy drained from Cid and the Materia refused to glow. The ebony-haired fighter whipped out Death Penalty and shot at the green-plant wall; the bullet stopped in midair. Right in front of the wall.

"Ahhhh!" Tifa, who was standing beside Vincent began to fade; the ex-Turk grabbed her arm before she dissipated completely. In a second's time, they were both gone.

"Cid. I'm scared." Tears poured out of Shera's eyes as she held her husband's arm. The pilot looked into her eyes but only saw fear… then it started to wane. Her laugh-lines disappeared into her firming skin, her height began to shrink. Cid could do nothing as she slowly became a child. A baby.

"We've got to get out." Nanaki stated while Cid picked up a young Shera. They began their way back the way they came but dozens of tunnels had formed. They were in a Lybrith.

Vincent's eyes were shut tightly, in his metal claw, he held the Aiya Dagger; his human hand was holding Tifa's arm. Moan.

"Vin-Vince…?" She croaked out the words. Her right ankle throbbed, when she had dwindled in existence and reappeared, they'd fallen from a high altitude. Cracking an eye open, the martial artist saw Vincent lying face down beside her, with his hand holding her arm.

"Are you alright?" He sat up, balancing on his knees. He looked at Tifa, her hair a mess and her face stretched into a pained facial cast, but she still looked ravishing. _What am I saying?_

"… Yeah. I think I sprained my ankle…" Her flashlight had rolled down the rock hall slightly. Vincent helped her stand but it was definite that she couldn't walk.

"I can walk."

"No." Gracefully, he swept her up into his arms. She was light, amazingly light.

"Really! I can walk!"

"Just keep quiet." He hadn't meant to be so harsh…

He bent down so Tifa could retrieve the flashlight and hold it up for him; she also clutched the dagger. As they moved closer to the tunnels ahead, screams could be heard. They were Nguyen's.

"The Curse! The Curse! Let me out! Please, god!" They were heart wrenching. She was dying and she wasn't dying quietly. But neither Vincent nor Tifa could do anything to help the woman that had helped them. "Please! Anyone!"

"C-Can't we help her?" So kind-hearted. Tifa Lockheart, he would never understand how she could have bombed the reactors. Knowing that someone, at very least one, would be killed.

"… No." Her head lay on his shoulder as he carried her. _She smells like fruit and … what is that other smell? Freesia? No. Lilacs. She smells like fruit and lilacs._

The decided on the center tunnel, Vince walked quietly, ignoring Tifa's attempts of small talk. He didn't want to be harsh or cold. Really. But he couldn't allow this odd lust he was feeling to grow. It was _only_ lust and lust could be dangerous.

"…What's wrong?" Her tone had changed to a gentle one. "You don't usually talk but you usually talk more than this."

"Nothing."

"There's no such thing as 'nothing'."

"Of course there is. I am feeling nothing at this moment."

"No. You can feel my head on your shoulder right now."

"What if I was to say I didn't?"

"…Well, then you'd be _feeling_ numb." The stoic shooter couldn't help but chuckle at her analogy. It was amusing.

"Tou-ché." He stopped walking; the screams had stopped. Nguyen was released from pain.

"They stopped." Tifa's words were not meant to be heard but were. She didn't know the weight that had been put onto Vincent's shoulders. Nguyen Pham had died for his cause, another sin to the list.


	12. Curious

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own or own Final Fantasy 7… for now… -continues scheming evil mastermind plan-

Did I take too long to update last time? I'm sorry if I did =) I'll just try to hurry my ass up then! I really **really **didn't like the last chapter… I think I could have done better. So, in the future I might re-write it. But for now, I'll leave it as it is. Plus, I'm really uninspired at the moment, I can't think of anything interesting to happen. I swear, if you get confused in the following chapter, tell me and I'll try my best to fix it. =D

Curious

"Dear… god…" With paws aching and throbbing, Nanaki and Cid, whom cradled Shera, had encountered the choice of ten different tunnels. However, before the decision had been made, cries of torment echoed in the walls. "Is… that Nguyen…?"

"Fuck no… We got to go help her." Bubbly tears streamed down Shera's infant face. "Sorry."

"…" A solemn expression mounted the fiery beast.

"What?!"

"To help her… we must first help ourselves. As you can see, we can't even do that."

Each scream stabbed deeper into their hearts, each outcry burned images of her into their minds. "The Curse! The Curse! Let me out! Please, god! Please! Anyone!"

"We can't leave her." The pilot's conscious was weighed with guilt and empathy; no one with a soul could simply leave a fellow human in such agony.

"… We can't save her."

"Listen to her! She's fucking getting her brains drilled out or something!"

"Mercy! Please! Somebody; anybo-" Finally, her howls refrained. Nothing could change her fate anymore. For the next half an hour, Cid and Nanaki chose the tunnel to the very right and followed its path.

"Ah! Shit…" The smoker's arm reached out and gripped the stone wall, slightly crippling.

"What's wrong?" Nanaki moved quickly, making sure that Shera was balanced on Cid's one free arm.

"My… ah- fucking hip's slaughtering me here!" Staring intently at his companion's face, the dog-like beast saw time being stolen from him. Another curse had landed on Cid, the exact opposite of Shera's enchantment; he was growing old.

"We've got to get out of here…"

"What are you thinking?" Though Vincent was not tired of holding her, Tifa had figured out that she could lay the dagger and flashlight on her lap and they'd both work perfectly alright, leaving her hands free plait several braids in his silky hair.

"Nothing" He added quickly. "...important."

"If you say so…"

For a long time, no words were exchanged. The maze of brick and dirt seemed to be never-ending, was that part of the spell? Impossible escape? Both couldn't deny the bizarre sensations they were feeling when they were so tightly attached together. However, they did refuse to comprehend what the feeling meant.

"Vince…?"

"Mmm?"

"Are… we ever going to get out?"

"…"

"…Oh…"

"Anything's possible."

"I want to get out…" Fifteen proud braid stuck out in his tresses, Tifa stroked each one tenderly as she spoke. "I've been feeling kind of funny ever since I… faded…"

Worry creased Vince's face, he had also been feeling slightly off but dismissed it quickly. "So… have I."

"…Really?"

"Yes."

"Thank god. I thought I was going crazy." Smiling, she resumed her twining marathon. "Do you think we should worry? Or do you think it was that weird looking eggs that they served us at the inn?"

Somehow, she always managed to make him smile, no matter the situation… sometimes, she didn't even have to say anything; she simply had to smile or allow him to watch her. "I think we should worry… because if it was the eggs, I would be worry."

"My… ah- fucking hip's slaughtering me here!" A familiar voice cried deep within the obscurity. Never had they been so glad that the pilot was loud and rude. Scurrying in the direction of the voice, they broke into another dozen tunnels.

"The right!" Yelped the female fighter.

"Why?"

"Trusting my gut, you got a better idea?" Following her instincts and command, he drove into the right tunnel. Flying threw the path, wails of an infant could be heard. Finally entering an opening, red fur came into view.

"Nanaki!" The shooter's voice carried to the animal's ears. Turning, Nanaki's eyes filled with such hope.

"Vincent! Tifa! You're alright…-ish." Facing Tifa, he grinned. "What happened?"

"We… I fell." She winced in pain; her ankle throbbed profusely.

"Then let's get the hell out of here…" The dirty blond pilot was on edge, his face was quickly lining with wrinkles. Plus, his worry was skyrocketing, if Shera was a baby, what happened to the one she was pregnant with? _His_ child?

They headed forward, deep into the unknown crevice of the deadly temple. Tifa, whom was now leaning against Vincent by clinging to him by the waist, flexed her fingers. Her ankle refused to get better and the odd sensation continued to stick to her. _I just want to get out of this hellhole…_

It had been a long day… or night, and yet they had no idea if they were anywhere closer to escape. Cid had aged almost a decade already and Shera, at the moment, seemed to have finished un-aging. Leaving Vincent and Tifa the feeling same as before. Vincent led the way, too busy conversing with Nanaki who walked behind them, he didn't see the protruding tile. With his foot on top of the trap detonator, a large axe came swinging down. A sick flesh and bone being slashed sound invited silence and panic. The quick gunman's instincts had forced him to shift to the left to dodge the blade, what he couldn't calculate was that Tifa had clamped onto him tightly and she had moved with him. Now she stood, her grip had gone limp, with a large axe deeply gouged in her chest.

"Oh my god." Nanaki ran behind her to break her fall as Tifa's body fell backwards. "Cure Materia! Now!"

Cid scrambled to get the magical orb and began to chant. But like before, nothing happened. "Son of a fuck! Come on you fucking piece of shit!"

Blood was visible, a big red splotch on the front of her shirt. _This is my fault. Why did I move? I've killed her._ Vincent's self-blame had begun. But the feeblest voice reminded him. _She isn't dead yet._

The panic died down slowly as the minutes dragged by and Tifa was still breathing; still living. Albeit the pained woman still seemed to be in immense pain, she was alive for some reason.

"What the…?" _She's… alive._ "What's going on?"

Nobody could answer Nanaki's question, it was miracle. But if it was such a miracle, why was Tifa still screaming in torment? The slightest draft brushed Cid's face, drafts only arrived when the exit was near.

"Is…is that a b-breeze…?" Poor girl, even her voice shook.

"Shh. Do not speak." Relieving the dog-creature from supporting Tifa's weight, Valentine collected her up. "Let's find the exit, we must retrieve help."

Following the light wind, they saw no light but could hear howls of wind getting louder. The halls began to look familiar as they closed in on the way out. With Cid and Nanaki now leading, they ran out of the malicious temple. Vincent followed excitedly but he ran straight into an invisible wall that split him and Tifa from the world.

The pilot and the beast turned to look at the helpless couple. But they had no time to wonder as Cid age-digits flew back to its normal number. And Shera's form aged to her normal age.

"AHHHH!" Shera cried in distress. Facing her, he noticed that her clothing had been disposed of except for a Cid's jacket he had wrapped her in when the spell was still in effect. Blood was running down her legs. She was in labor. Running to her side, his eyes questioned what to do.

"Go! To a hospital! Get the book and get us out later!" Vincent screamed to them as they burst off running, hoping they'd get to a doctor soon. Once they were out of sight in the blinding blizzard, he knelt down and set Tifa's sweaty head on his lap, running his fingers through her soft hair. The blood had stopped pouring but the gap was obviously still open. And her expression and voice told him that she was still in absolute torture. Hmm. Curious how she's still alive.


	13. Forecast Today A Cloudy Fairy Tale

Disclaimer: This is your chance to win another chapter… FASTER! Just answer this trivial question and you could be a winner! Do I own Final Fantasy 7: **Yes but no** or **no yet yes**? Please send the your answer to Nosuchthing at boyyouaregullible.com =D Please have your answer sent in by yesterday! Good luck!!

So how is everybody? Wow… I mowed the lawn for the first time two days ago, and guess what I found? I found this MONSTEROUS anthill in my front yard. Well today, I went to the mall with my brother, when we parked in the garage there was the HUGE ant with wings by his door so he actually crawled to my side of the car and exited on my side. THEN, to make things worse, I noticed some small black fly looking bugs hovering near my tree. I thought it was weird because flies don't really fly like that, so after some more careful inspection, I realized they were wasps. So now I have a wasp nest? –in my back yard, huge ass flying ants in my garage and a gigantic anthill in my front yard… dear god, we need to move. . haha so anyways. I'll try to hurry up but I can't promise anything my finals are… holy shit…. They're this week. So yeah… oh. Go check out my first poem I've ever posted called 'Chaotic Nightmares' and please review this story or poem =)

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Forecast Today A Cloudy Fairy Tale

Tears leaked from her eyes, it hurt so much. Why couldn't she just die? Was this some sick joke? Tifa Lockheart had never felt so vulnerable, vulnerable to herself. The cold feeling had settled onto the gash, just like she remembered it. Just like in Nibelhiem with Sephiroth. _I don't want to die._ But. _I don't want to live. _It just hurt so much. At during the time she was drifting in and out of consciousness in the Nibel Reactor, she could only remember thinking of Cloud. Cloud. Cloud. Nothing else mattered, everything in her mind had regressed to simple state; he would fulfill his promise or break it.

Something stroked her face, it was warm. It was amusingly soft yet rough. Almost like velvet, it moved a certain way, it was gentle and soothing but if pushed into a different direction, it'd be scratching and hard. Somehow, whichever way it went, it was so… calming. Just to know this time it was different. She wasn't alone this time. Not alone.

Vincent trailed his human fingers along her face and neck. She seemed to have relaxed slightly, her screams had quelled down to soft groans. He wished he could do something to remove the undeserved pain off the frail fighter. How she was still alive was beyond comprehension. Possibly it was part of the curse.

"Help! Help! She's in labor!" Nanaki shoved past people, making space for him and Shera to the desk. The nurse glanced at them and recognized them immediately, AVALANCHE.

Nanaki stood by Shera as she crushed his paw in her underestimated strength. Cid was rushed to another room himself, he had severe hypothermia and so was Shera but they had to get the baby first. They'd made an exception with Nanaki and let him into the emergency room with Shera.

Incoherent mumbles were being exchanged between the doctors. Things about wrong way. Feet first. Too far down. Birth canal. Luck. The intelligent dog couldn't follow the conversation fast enough to understand a word they spoke. So instead, dismissing the warning that the doctor had given to him before, he peeked behind the baby blue screen that covered him from Shera's bottom half. His eyes widened before they rolled up into the back of his head and he fell over.

When he finally came to, the screaming had departed to another pregnant woman and Shera was lying in a room with several doctors trying feverishly to bring her body temperature back up. Nanaki lay in a bed himself but he was not in any need of hypothermic care for his guard hairs and thick coat trapped his body heat where it was needed.

He padded to a nurse and retrieved the whereabouts of the baby. Once arriving in the hall, he stared through the glass and saw a baby wrapped in a pink blanket with the words 'Highwind' taped on the front. Ten fingers. Unable to contain the persistent smile, he let it grow. Finally something good came out of so much pain.

Suddenly, an epiphany quaked Vincent's brain. It must have been at the very least been a full day by now, so why hadn't he had to… excrete bodily fluids? Why hasn't he even felt tired? Or hungry? He looked for at his patient; sweat trickled down her face. Her wound wasn't healing but she wasn't dying. It was amazing. It broke every law of the human body. But he hoped the incredible miracle's magic wouldn't run out soon. Shutting his eyes, he did something he hadn't done in… years. He prayed.

Cid slowly stood, even against the forceful hands of the nurse that pressed on his chest; he couldn't stay. Tifa's life was tied to the bottom of a breaking thread.

"You got to lie down, sir!" The tubby woman gave an exasperated attempt to restrain him to his bed.

"Get your fucking hands off me." His gruff voice and cold eyes burned into hers and her hands flew back to herself, afraid of what he might do if she didn't. As if on queue, Nanaki stepped into the room.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but I believe me and my friend must be on our way." Giving her a reassuring grin, Nanaki gestured for his comrade to follow him out into the hall.

"Where's Shera? Damn doctors wouldn't let me near her."

"She's fine. I'll take you to her but we must hurry. Tifa's waiting." Down the hall, right turn, another right and then straight, finally, her door stood in front of them. The doctors had informed Nanaki that Shera's condition was officially stable but she wouldn't be able to leave the hospital for awhile time.

Upon entry, Shera awoke from her exhausted sleep. Her hair that she had originally decided to out into a high ponytail was now ruffled and messy. Funny how she still managed to smile. _She looks just like when I came back._ Pacing to his wife's side, he picked up her hand.

"Do… you remember? When I came home?" Completely deluded with each other, they didn't notice the knowing look that Nanaki had melted into as he left them in privacy.

"…Yes. I remember, for awhile you were gone I thought I was going to die." Flashing back, their retrospect began with Cid working on a small project in Rocket town.

"Stupid… fit damn it…" Only speaking to himself, he hadn't expected Shera to be sneak up behind him. It had only been three months since they defeated the meteor and the media was swamping Cid. He could usually scare the bejeebers out of them with his unmatchable cussing abilities but some would ignore his angry comments and would end up being attacked.

"Captain?"

"Holy shit!" Whirling around, he saw his assistant holding out a tray with his favorite tea and sandwich on it. He almost let a smile out. Almost. "Don't fucking scare me like that… and just call me Cid, damned woman."

"S-sorry." Once he snatched a sandwich and a cup of tea off the tray, she began to walk off.

"Shera!" She felt something cold hit her back lightly; it was the sandwich. "What'd you do?! Go to the neighbor's yard and pick up some fucking dog shit and stick it between some bread and call it a sandwich?!"

"I- Um, You- I-"

"God! You can't do anything right!" Without another word, he stormed off. Salty tears rolled down the woman's cheek as she removed her coat and began to pick out the pieces of tuna that the sandwich had smeared onto it.

Later that night, Cid came home. He was in a much lighter mood, mostly from alcohol. Everything would have been like any other night he came home plastered, yell, Shera help him to bed, pass out somewhere in there, and wake up with a colossal hangover. But, on this night, his drunken routine had taken a horrible turn, instead of yelling at Shera, his eyes traveled her form.

"Heya be-youtiful." He sat down beside her on the couch, placing his arm around her shoulders and slumping into her.

"Cap- Cid. I think you're… a little drunk."

"A lithle? I'm fucking hammered…" He began to feel her thigh. Shivers ran up her spine, she'd always wanted him to touch her like this. Suddenly, his lips were on her neck, they were burning; it was enticing. His hands were everywhere, every moment. Soon, they'd found their way into her pants, which coincidentally had been unbuttoned in the passion.

Everything was so blurry and fast after that. Only glimpses of him dragging himself over her and thrust harshly. However, he drove in with perfect impact making her reach her orgasm fast. She must have done something amazing too for he reached it quickly also. The entire night had been a repetition of sexual pleasure and exploration for the two soul mates.

The next morning, though, was not a fairy tale one. Cid had awoken to find himself naked lying on top of a equally nude Shera. He loved her. He truly did. With every fiber of his being, but he could only hurt her. He could never find ways of showing her his love without screaming or yelling. Knowing this, the only explanation was that he raped her. He committed a horrible act upon the woman he'd mistreated but never physically abused. So he ran.

Shera woke alone and cold. Not knowing what to expect, she hadn't anticipated he would have ran from her. Was she truly that revolting? She didn't work for anyone but him. She had no other job. Maybe he was sick of supporting her. More tears streamed her face, she couldn't live without him. Not because of the financial reasons only but because she lived for him. Holy, she loved him so much, couldn't he see? Or didn't he care? To add to the mischance, two or so months later, she noticed odd health behaviors and checked with a doctor only to find herself pregnant. She had a no money, no father for her baby and nothing to live for.

"Shera?" As she walked home, a vaguely familiar voice called her. Turning, she saw golden locks hanging over azure eyes. Cloud Strife.

"C-Cloud?" Wasn't he supposed to be Nibelhiem with Tifa? Oh. Are they visiting? "Are you here with Tifa?"

"…No. Uh. We went our separate ways, I'm searching for something and I thought I'd drop by and say hi. How are you… you look kind of lost."

"I'm, I'm fine…" He looked the same as before, with a large sword strapped to his back but a weary look etched his face. "Are here for Cid?"

"Uh… actually, I thought I'd come see both of you. Looks like you guys are starting a family."

"Cid… isn't here. H-He left. But you're still welcome to stay, you look tired." Nodding, Cloud followed Shera home. They chatted like old friends but Cloud avoided anything that was related the pilot. He had seen the pain-stricken expression that engraved her face at the mention of Cid's name.

They'd arrived at her house and she offered him a room to stay in, however, Cloud saw envelopes with words like 'Overdue' in large red bold letters on them. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Cid had taken off somewhere, leaving an unemployed Shera with dozens of payments.

"You can just stay in this room if you'd like." She opened the door to a small yet cozy room.

"This is perfect, I'll probably be gone by morning though, I just remembered I had to do something and I'm already behind schedule." Shutting the door that was the last of him Shera ever saw. The sun ushered her into consciousness; she went about her normal morning routine. But when she reached down stairs into the kitchen, all of her bills were opened and a large wad of gil lay on the table. A small note was under it.

Dear Shera,

There should be enough gil for you there for the bills and some extra for food and such. Good luck.

Sincerely

Cloud.

The first smile in almost two months crawled onto her expression; Cloud was such a sweetheart. It wasn't until a day or two later had she began to ponder what he meant he said that he and Tifa went separate ways. She always thought that they would be together forever.

"Uncle Cid?" Marlene's voice was so adorable at times, yet she could also be slightly irritating sometimes also. He stood outside of North Corel, in a field near Barrett's home.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Uncle Cloudy is here."

"What?!"

"Hey, Cid. How you been?" Twisting his head, he saw his former leader, Cloud Strife. Exactly the same as before.

"I've been… good. Run along Marlene." Her little feet carried her back to her father and their house. "What the hell do you want?"

"You've got a beautiful baby." The blonde warrior sat down by Cid's feet.

"What? Don't you know shit, boy? Marlene's Barrett's munchkin." A secret smile licked Cloud's lips.

"I wasn't talking about Marlene." He continued to speak in riddle. "I'm sure he or she'll have your eyes."

"…What the fuck are you talking about? You gone crazy?"

"I'm talking about the baby that Shera's pregnant with. I visited her not too long ago and she was a mess. How could you leave her?!" The accusing glare was what he finished his sentence with.

"…Then where's Tifa, huh? How could you leave her?"

"That's different. You left because you were afraid. I left because I'm in love with someone else."

"You're in love with a damn ghost. Tifa's real. And she loves you more then you know, she'll die without you."

"Same with Shera." Cloud left after that, and Cid nor Barrett and Marlene saw him after that. Cloud's words, though, had left its mark in the chain smoker; maybe he should go back. But how could he face Shera? Now that he had not only thought he raped her but for leaving her with everything? Pros and cons wracked his mind but in the end, he couldn't live without her. Running fast, since he left without the Highwind or Tiny Bronco, he sped to Rocket town.

When he got there, Shera really was a mess and so was he. But he had purposed the second he got home. A lot of bumps in the road had surfaced but they managed to overcome them. A couple of months later though, word on the news was that Cloud Strife had died. They tried to visit Tifa but she wasn't in Nibelhiem, seems that she went to Wutai for some girl talk with Yuffie.

The couple gave each other loving kisses as they reminisced. Everything worked out in the end. How fairy tale.


	14. Déjà vu

Disclaimer: Don't own ff7. Blah de blah blah.

Thanks for the reviews I really appreciated them. Especially the reviews for 'Chaotic Nightmare'! If you enjoy angst poems, go check it out. =) I don't like this chapter… my writer's block came back and I think it's planning to stay for awhile =S…

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Déjà vu

"And he looked into her eyes and knew that everything would be alright. Everything worked out in the end." With one hand in her hair, a golden claw was clutched in the frail woman's feeble fist. Still in unbelievable pain, her lifeline nevertheless held strong. Stories were one of the few things Vincent could remember from his mother; he hadn't begun to forget her over the years in the coffin but he had been forced to forget them in his life as a Turk. Their life had to be abolished making it seem like they never existed. His death was acted out and he received a new name. Tyson Brown. They had only managed to stick that name onto him for two months; he refused to lose his unique label. Instead, he only answered to 'Vincent' and since he was the best Turk they had at the time. They had to bend the rules for him.

"T-Then what…?" Shaking him back to reality with her soft voice, tears were visible in Tifa's eyes.

"They… uh… lived happily ever after." Abruptly, the salty droplets leaked from her eye's sides. She used to think that life was that way. An image of Cloud and Aeris, holding each other in perfect serenity within the hands of the Promise Land popped into her mind. Oh yeah, she forgot, some people _do_ get fairy tale endings. So… why couldn't she? Didn't she deserve one? Who ever the hell was up there had ripped her mother from her, then it allowed Sephiroth to slash at her torso, next, oh, never forget the man in the slums; the man with the grungy beard and long greased black hair. She could remember him pressing his form against hers, his nauseous body odor and horrible oral stench. The young girl, only 17 at the time, had never been touched like that. Though she hadn't lost her innocence, it was as if the world had smirked before slapping her with realness. She'd been quite naïve before that incident; she'd been one of those people who constantly believed 'that could never happen to me'. Lucky for her though, that was the day she met Barrett.

Flicking her eyes at Vincent, her mind played games with her eyes. His expression contorted slowly into a desperate one, his porcelain face broke out with black stubble. Faster than she would have liked it, Vincent Valentine had been swallowed by the Planet and the man from the slums had taken his place. Stroking her hair gently.

A shrill shriek sounded through the tunnels. The martial artist's heavy arms swung madly at the ex-Turk. "Let go of me! Let me go!"

A moment later, she was sitting up, coughing out blood. In spite of the fact that Vince had been dumbfounded at her outburst, he lifted her onto his lap as her crimson juices leaked from her fatal wound all over him also. She wasn't asleep but she seemed to be in her right mind once more. Fondling with his ebony locks, she seemed content in what she was doing, Vincent placed his arms around her waist and began to cogitate the entire 'why' questions from before.

"Alright. So the damn book is some where in there?" In the midst of the black, Cid stared at the museum.

"Yes."

"And how the hell are we supposed to get in there?" They both look helplessly at the locked doors. But soon enough, elaborate schemes conjured in their minds.

In the dead of the night, two shadows one human, one animal, crept stealthily to an open window they had spied from before. Up the tree, across the branch and into the window they moved. Enfin inside, they searched for Nguyen's office. Unfamiliar halls sketched their sight, but eventually, they'd found it. The book was heavy as they tried to move it. With butterfingers, Cid dropped it onto Nanaki's unsuspecting back.

Letting out an unusually pained howl, a booming voice yelled at them.

"Is somebody there? Come out!"

"Shit!" Speaking in hushed tones, the two schemers ducked as a flashlight's ray shot through the window on the door. The other puny window across the room was their only chance in getting back to Tifa soon enough. Nanaki fit easily through but almost slipped off the steep slant on the outside of the window but Cid managed to get himself wedged into the small hole.

"Damn it! Help me!" The red creature was having a hard enough time trying to keep himself balanced on the dramatic slope and suppressing his snickers.

"Fu-" Wiggling with anxiety, Cid felt himself slither through the window's mouth and fall towards the _rose_ bushes bellow. "-ck!!"

But, like always, he didn't go alone, one of his arms smacked Nanaki bringing the dog down along with the tumble. In the end, they were not crippled but they had thorns jabbed in their bodies.

They sped to the forsaken temple.

"I've got thorns fucking shoved up my ass…" Much as they complained all the way to the temple, they reached the entrance. The picture was gentle and untainted, Vincent held Tifa in perfect tranquility.

"Hey! Love birds!" Vincent managed to twist his head past Tifa's balls of tousled mane and glare at Cid. "Hey, man, I'm just here to help you."

"Do you have the book?"

"Of course." Flipping through the contents, Nanaki skimmed the context. Vincent waited patiently, he felt like he had a world of time. Odd words and pictures flew out and caught his interest but he refused to be sidetracked, landing on a page full of curses. He scanned his inhuman eyes down the page, which by chance, had gotten hooked on the words 'Temple of Chronos: Curses'. His eyes hunted for answers and one by one he found them.

"By the looks of this book… She's immortal and so are you." Nanaki pulled his nose out the publication to face puzzled and shocked expressions.

"Immortal…?" Vincent signaled for more explanation.

Ahem. "Tifa can't die. Neither can you. You'll live forever and ever in this Temple. Did I say it slow enough?" A toothy grin emerged from the red beast. _Glad someone thinks it's funny._ Was all that the gunman could regard.

"Isn't there like some crappy voodoo way to break it?" The old pilot's eyes traveled the obscured halls. "There's gotta be some way to break it…"

"There actually two." Forbidden wisdom seemed to ooze from the fiery creature. "One is to return the Dagger."

"…" All eyes landed on Vincent, it was his call. They required it for the resurrection spell but would it be worth the expense of his and Tifa's life in the outside world? "What is the second choice?"

"Blood must be drawn by the dagger."

"And?"

"It needs a bodily amount. It's supposed to be one person giving up their life but if we all give just enough blood so that we're teetering on the edge of death then we'll have broken the curse."

Considering all the pros and cons, Vincent was torn. Was the dagger and Lucretia worth it? Yes, most definitely. So was he supposed to ask his comrades to bleed for him?

"I… cannot return the dagger." With his head hanging low, he couldn't watch their expressions.

"Then… give it here and let's start slicing." Smiling, Cid snatched the dagger and held it against his wrist. "How much?"

"Until you feel dizzy. Then it should have enough from you." Now thoroughly shocked, Vincent watched in awe as the blade bit into his friend's skin. _Did I just call him my friend?_

The blood didn't trickle to the floor, unusually, it seemed to be absorbed by the Aiya dagger. Slowly, Cid's eyes began to droop, he didn't hear a scream. But everyone else did. It pierced the air and into the ears. The Temple was screaming.

Spooked and shaken, Nanaki grabbed the small knife and sliced into his own flesh, the screeching grew louder. Like a vacuum, the blade sucked his life-blood out from his veins. Once everything began to blur, he handed the knife to Tifa who graciously took it and jabbed it into her wrist. Majority of the pressure that she had been harboring seemed to be released as the blood escaped her body.

Oblivion seemed to be slowly covering her eyes; Tifa didn't even feel the blade being pried from her hands. The screaming was so loud. But sometime between Vincent's cutting and before she blacked out it ended. Déjà vu. The same feelings of dread yet relief rushed into her, just like in the Nibelhiem Reactor.


	15. Pure Hatred

Disclaimer: What do **you** think?

With or without writer's block, I'm going to TRY!!! I'm going to _try_ to finish enough chapters to satisfy you guys before I go off to China. Yeah, I'm going to China in about uhhh… let's see…week and a half. God… so much work, so little time. Plus I vowed that I would go out more this summer since my mom strapped me down with this rule 'can only go out once a month during the school year'. I know that the last chapter wasn't my best work but I got so stuck 'cause I overlooked some details and managed to get myself stuck in a rut.

I wanted to send this fic to maybe another site or something too but I can't find any that might be interested, so if you find one, tell me =)

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Pure Hatred

The smell of cleanliness filled her nostrils, not the enjoyable out-of-the-shower cleanliness but the sterilized cleanliness that would only be in one place. The hospital. Tifa's eyes cracked open to see a plain ceiling; as her hand clawed at the fabric beneath her, she noted a pillow's attendance underneath her head. Her muscles were slightly sore from not using it them for such a long while.

"Ah, Ms. Lockheart. We were worried about you for awhile." A man in a white lab coat stood by her bed, his nametag read 'Dr. Kevin Huang'. Seemingly kind, his face expressed it profoundly; also another obvious thing about him was his thinness. It was almost like looking at a skeleton that had stolen someone's skin and wore it as its own. "We thought you weren't going to make it there when your friends first came into our doors."

"Oh." That simple word could mean so much things, hopefulness, disappointment, understanding, relief, question, excitement, etc.

"…Ms. Lockheart. You had serious blood loss. All of your party has suffered from blood loss but you also had to be taken into surgery for the large wound on your chest. Not to mention the unbelievable amount of stress your body managed to survive. No one should have been able to reach that level of tension without over-exerting themselves and dying. As I understand it, you encountered problems in a excavation of a Tomb nearby with Ms. Nguyen Pham? But she never made it out with the rest of you?"

"No." There was no emotion, constant monotone.

"Uh, no what?"

"S-She didn't come out…" Nguyen didn't physically leave but her screams and ghost appeared to haunt them.

"Alright." Whipping out a pen, he scribbled down something onto a clipboard. "I don't think you'll be seeing any of your friends for awhile, you all need rest."

As he began his way out, Tifa called out to him. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"A week. I was surprised any of you were alive when they staggered through the doors with you in arms. With such severe hypothermia and blood loss." Before she could ask any more questions he left. Memories of Cloud and her mother flooded her mind. The hospital was where she feared for their lives the most. Her dad never made it to a hospital, though it would not have mattered. What frightened her the most was that someone, anyone could die in a hospital and it wouldn't shock much. It would hardly even faze most doctors.

Hmm, what was the word to explain how she felt? "I hate hospitals."

Staring out the window from his bed, the shooter could only think of Tifa's condition. The doctors had said that she would get better but he stopped trusting doctors a long time ago. Hojo had been proclaimed a doctor yet he did no healing of any sort.

Lucretia, he longed for her. But was it worth an innocent life? And endangering three others? Yes but not when it was Cid, Nanaki and Tifa. Any others would be expendable but not those three.

"Hi there." Feeling a hit a nausea, he turned to face his nurse, Lady Campbell. She was obviously attracted to him but she was merely a Barbie. All plastic. Scars on her nose; her breast did not fit her scraggly form, they were of large size while she was small and twig shaped. Bright cosmetics smeared her face.

"Hello, Abby." (a/n please, anyone who has a friend or is named Abby take this into offence, just the only Abby I know is a really slutty bitch. But that doesn't mean all Abby's are like so. Please take no offense.) Vincent was still weak, he hadn't the strength to visit any of his companions. He could only pray they were not in any pain or worry.

Giggle giggle. "How do you _feel_?" Continuing his unkind and ill-mannered rampage he'd been doing for the entire time she had been trying to find a way to fuck him.

"I was feeling wonderful until you got here, now I feel like I'm about to vomit."

"Oh." Pouting, she maneuvered around the obstacles and to his side. "Why, baby?"

"Because I'm stuck looking at your ugly face. Please get out, I was ever in need of you, I would call for you. For now, I'm thriving without your revolting presence."

Like the complete time he had had her as a nurse, she worked with fierce determination, not giving up on her target.

"Alright, Mr. Valentine. Call me if you want _anything_." Was it just him or did some outside force make any slut near him dumber and completely oblivious to his distinct hints? Could they even still be called _hints_?! They were so very brazen and _out there_! God… At least she left.

He watched her leave. Only one phrase could sum up how he felt. "I hate hospitals."

God truly had something against him. Strapped to his bed with holds, Cid stared intently at the ceiling, cursing the hospital staff. As the week progressed, he had tried to get outside several times but failed each attempt. Wasn't his fault he needed a smoke. Wasn't his fault he wanted to visit his wife and _coincidentally_ noticed a group of hospital people outside smoking and thought to join them. Stupid doctors, stupid nurses, stupid _security_. He had been able to pay a visit to Shera earlier but only if he was escorted by a bulky man.

Shera had received the utmost care and so did his new daughter. They were healing fast, they'd be out the same time as Cid and the others. Only Tifa's condition showered the parade, not that any ill feelings were present. It was just the worrying they had undergone when she was in surgery; they had to lay in bed while other doctors tried to bring up their body temperatures. And pluck the many, many rose thorns from Nanaki and Cid's flesh.

Couple of days earlier, before they had decided to lock him down to his bed, he had tried to make a break for it. Several security officers jumped him but he fought them off. Injuring about six of them, before the managed to sedate him with a syringe and drugs. For the last couple of days, anything Cid had let flee his mouth had caused the doctor to scribble something down onto the pilot's chart(a/n the folder thing with your medical history). Curiosity had long been a part of the scenario but after the six people had been hurt, Cid had been bound to his bed.

"Damn doctors… can't be trusted." Feeling the craving of nicotine reemerge, he tugged at his restraints but an over-built man walked into view at the door's mouth. Stopping his struggle immediately, the security officer turned back outside.

Mumbling, not caring if anyone heard. "I hate hospitals."

Poke. Poke. The 'nutritious' hospital food was tasteless yet some how repulsive. Plus, they've been bitching at him for making a mess while he eats. What the hell is a dog-creature supposed to do?! It wasn't possible for him to use forks or utensils… well it was possible but why _would_ he? It'd be harder. And messier.

On the verge of puking, Nanaki lifted the tray of 'food' in his mouth and headed for the garbage disposal. But paused when a buff man walked into the room. "Now, Mr. Nanaki, must we do this again?"

"N-No." Settling back down in his bed, probably the only thing that was comfortable in the forsaken hospital, Nanaki licked his surreal cuisine.

"Good." The brawny man left. But he'd be back in about five minutes to make sure some food had been ingested. The joy.

They people of this hospital recognized them as AVALANCHE, yes, but treated him as a child. A child that could do nothing. It was absurd and degrading. Nurses and doctors came by and chatted in front of him truly believing he couldn't hear them, for god's sake! –he had bigger ears than they had! Not only that, but also when he complained, the nurse simply patted his head and smiled before leaving him be. This is why Nanaki had always tried to the best of his ability to escape injury's grasp; he loathed the place he had to go and the people he needed to speak with to get better. Though he was usually a gentle and non-detesting mammal, as long as he was a resident of this horrible place, he was alien to himself.

"I hate hospitals."

Another three days later though, they were all free to leave. Heading back to the Inn, everyone knew a conversation of great depth would have to commence. About where they'd go next and who would still follow.


	16. AVALANCHE’s Most Unique

Disclaimer: -Points back at previous chapters- you read it before. And if you didn't, you wouldn't understand what's going on in this chapter anyways. So if you **are** reading this without reading the chapters before you are plain dumb and stupid.

So hot… well for me. I live in Canada so I think 28 degrees Celsius is hot. Good god… how hot is it going to be in China?! –sigh- I hope I'll feel better when I get to China. God… stupid guys. I'm just wondering, what do you guys do to relax? Or unwind? Music? Hit things? Write?

I write poetry, as you can see in my profile thingy. I'm a curious child! =)

* * *

AVALANCHE's Most Unique.

Silence had descended upon the posse of fighters and fighter's family. The Inn room was neat and tidy but no one paid heed to any of their surroundings. All eyes glued to Vincent, would he continue his adventure?

"So…" Urging a conversation to begin, Cid spoke first. "Where now?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… Whoever would still like follow, I'll be leaving to Wutai tomorrow." The gunslinger's single sentence had caused an up-roar in everyone's minds and conscience.

"I'm going." Tifa looked around, watching the group. Would anyone else follow?

"I said I would assist, and I will keep my word." Nanaki strolled over to Tifa's side, whom by chance was sitting on the bed that Vincent was standing beside.

"…Shera?" The pilot worried for his family but the call of excitement was still in his blood. But Shera and his new daughter, whom they named Ashley, was his number one priority.

"… I think me and Ashley can handle the excitement."

"Great! Vin, my man, we're going too!"

_This is how it must felt for Cloud. To have people respect you and follow in your steps._ The slightest smile crept onto to the stoic man's lips; this feeling was unbelievable. It was so gratifying. The remainder of the evening flew by with frictionless ease.

Night seeped into the room and everyone had crawled under their sheets. A gentle shower began earlier but now it had evolved into a full fledge thunder-dear-god-I'm-going-to-drown storm.

Nanaki sat in the corner of the room, reading a book the innkeeper had provided, while Vincent had turned in for the night. Tifa sat on a bed, playing solitaire but Cid and his family had also fallen asleep. But now Cid had been booted out of his primary bed, he had stolen Tifa's original bed so there'd be no worry of the baby being crushed at all.

Lightning cracked in the sky, causing loud thunder. The illumination in the room gave a feeble flicker before giving out completely. Tifa felt around when she heard a knock at the door, finally reaching her destination, she swung it open to see the innkeeper holding out a candle to her.

"Here."

"Thanks." Shutting the door softly, not wanting to wake anyone, Tifa heard a whimper. "Nanaki? Is that you?"

"Y-Yes…" The candle's faint light eventually caught his face; it was scrunched up in fear. "I don't like thunderstorms."

His eyes only showed childish fear, but it was understandable, on a ratio, he was simply a teenager. They'd talked and played cards in a single candles light until the storm began to let up at three. Nanaki, not wanting to burden Tifa any longer, told her that he would be all right for henceforth.

"I think I'm going to stay up a little longer." Tifa sauntered to the window and watched as the disappearing lightning dance across the sky. But in due time, it was all gone too soon. The martial artist turned to the beds and saw the all of them were occupied. _How did I not see this coming?_

Nanaki had sprawled himself all over the bed's surface and tangled himself with all the blankets. Vincent lay on his side at the very edge of his bed, amazing he didn't fall though most of the bed was free, she doubted he would like it if she slept in a bed with him, he was so against physical contact. Although, lately, he seemed to be more open to it. Cid was also tottering on his bed's edge. He wouldn't mind as much.

Creeping to his side, Tifa pulled herself under the sheets. Only moments later had she been overwhelmed by coughs and her eyes filled with tears for the cigarette stench was so strong. Staggering out, she looked at Shera, but realized there was no space.

Nanaki had taken all the extra blankets, she couldn't sleep on the floor without freezing her ass off… only option left was Vincent. Hoping and praying to god that she would awake first and not be caught, Tifa slipped under the bedding.

The morning was grey but his built in clock woke him. Vincent felt something different this morning though, something warm and soft pushed against his back. Something was clasped in his hands, they were someone's smaller hands. They wrapped around his chest, in which was where his fists' sheltered them. Twisting his neck, he saw Tifa's radiant face. It was still early, only five or six. Turning and squirming, careful not rouse the slumbering beauty, not knowing why, he enveloped her in his arms. It was too early for reasoning.

Maybe an hour later, maybe two, Vincent awoke. Luckily, no one else had yet been stirred into consciousness. Another hour clambered by before the party began to awaken.

The group loaded up on supplies and called Yuffie on the PHS. Informing her of their visit. Soon, they were all on the Highwind and ready for take off. The trip was uneventful. But the arrival was ecstatic. Yuffie tackled Tifa the second she exited the aircraft.

"Oh my god!!! Tifa!!! Vincent!!! Shera!!! Nanaki!!! Cid!!! … and a baby? Whatever!!!!! Doesn't matter! Can't believe you guys are here!!!!!"

"Ahhhhh! Yuffie! I've missed you!! Oh, this is Ashley, Cid and Shera's new baby." Suddenly, the two girls began speaking in a high-pitched-complete-gibberish language that no one except themselves can decipher. The two women began to walk and the rest could do nothing but follow.

Later that day, more so, night, everyone sat around a large table. Yuffie had long taken the name of Mistress of Wutai. So, she was constantly busy and had roughly no social life aside from her few friends in school. Her 'advisors' continuously made sure she would never touch any clubs, something about tainting her reputation.

But. Of course that didn't mean being the ruler of a nation didn't have it's perks. Yuffie had more money than she could use not to mention the very _very _comfortable lifestyle. Still, she was absolutely rapturous to see her best friend Tifa. In the beginning, they'd been at each other's throats, Aeris was their only mutual bond. After she had been ripped from life's possession, they'd been forced to get to know each other. Surprisingly, they got along.

Vincent felt uneasy, he could feel their eyes on him. Tifa and Yuffie. It was obvious that Yuffie was infatuated with him; not infatuated, more like a childish crush. Tifa, possibly she was still feeling odd about the Temple. Or something. Or nothing.

"So… Vinnie. How have you been?" Yuffie's hands were woven together under her chin, meanwhile, her elbows were propped up on the table. Dinner was finished, only thing left before their quarters were set was friendly chitchat.

"I've been traveling." Trying to avoid eye contact, he was afraid of what he might see if he looked into her grey irises.

"Oh. That sounds awesome. What are you guys doing?" That question set off a long explanation, mostly done by Tifa and Nanaki. In the end, Yuffie had decided to join their cause.

"Okay! Me, Tifa, Nanaki and Vinnie will be in my room. And I already asked one of my assistants to set up a specialty room with a crib and all for Cid, Shera and Ashley." A couple of goodnights were exchanged before the quartet headed to their chamber for the night.

At almost midnight, Tifa and Yuffie had thrown the blankets over chairs and such and made an old fashioned tent.

"So, Tifa. What do you think about Vinnie-boy?" Only murmuring to ensure that they could not be heard.

"He's… a good friend."

"Only?"

"Yeah, only."

"Are you sure? Because I would totally back off if you want."

"Yuffie!" Almost as if you could see him, they could feel Vincent and Nanaki shift their eyes in their direction, raising eyebrows the whole way. "I mean, Yuffie. I'm sure. Friends only"

"Good. Because I was lying. He is so hot I would never have completely backed off" Wink wink. Laughter trembled the tent causing it to collapse but that only ushered their giggles and snickers more.

After Vincent and Nanaki had settled into their beds, Yuffie finally began talking to Tifa seriously.

"Vincent is… attractive." Even though they were virtually alone, Tifa was still shy.

"Attractive? Attractive?! For god's sake!! He's is totally a TDH!! Tall, dark and hot!!! With the high cheekbones, thin lips and mesmerizing eyes! You can't tell me that he's just 'attractive'!"

"Fine! He's positively gorgeous! And yes, yes he is the perfect type of guy; tall, dark and handsome. Also, yes, I will admit he's got the most…" A small glitter embedded itself in Tifa's eyes as she sighed. "Brilliant eyes. And holy shit, his hair is heavenly. And, and! –he smells unbelievable…"

"You smelled you? What'd you do? Go up to him and sniff the poor guy?"

"No! we just… were close at certain points of this journey."

"And you said you were only friends."

"We are!"

"What ever, Tif. Hey, do remember the last time we _ever_ got to talk like this?"

"… yeah. After Cloud."


	17. Naughty Naughty

Disclaimer: Anything's possible.

Hi! Whew, so much work… I finished an entire chapter yesterday, to me, that's a lot of work. Especially when I've got no ideas whatsoever. But I really appreciate the reviews =) =)

This chapter is mainly **dialogue**, for the ending of this chapter and for Yuffie's small comments.

* * *

Naughty Naughty.

"So, Tifa. What do you think about Vinnie-boy?" Only murmuring to ensure that they could not be heard.

"He's… a good friend."

"Only?"

"Yeah, only."

"Are you sure? Because I would totally back off if you want."

"Yuffie!" Almost as if you could see him, they could feel Vincent and Nanaki shift their eyes in their direction, raising eyebrows the whole way. "I mean, Yuffie. I'm sure. Friends only"

"Good. Because I was lying. He is _so_ hot I would never have completely backed off" Wink wink. Laughter trembled the tent causing it to collapse but that only ushered their giggles and snickers more.

After Vincent and Nanaki had settled into their beds, Yuffie finally began talking to Tifa seriously. And loudly.

"Vincent is… attractive." Even though they were virtually alone, Tifa was still shy.

"Attractive? Attractive?! For god's sake!! He's is totally a TDH!! Tall, dark and hot!!! With the high cheekbones, thin lips and mesmerizing eyes! You can't tell me that he's just 'attractive'!"

"Fine! He's positively gorgeous! And yes, yes he is the perfect type of guy; tall, dark and handsome. Also, yes, I will admit he's got the most…" A small glitter embedded itself in Tifa's eyes as she sighed. "Brilliant eyes. And holy shit, his hair is heavenly. And, and! –he smells unbelievable…"

"You smelled him? What'd you do? Go up to him and sniff the poor guy?"

"No! We just… were close at certain points of this journey."

"And you said you were only friends."

"We are!"

"What ever, Tif. Hey, do remember the last time we _ever_ got to talk like this?"

"… yeah. After Cloud."

"… Tiffy, don't bum this out. The past is the past. You couldn't do anything about it."

"Yeah… I know."

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"You ask me it but I can't guarantee I'll answer it." The older woman was never herself when Yuffie was around. So much more carefree.

"Haha, deal. You said that you guys are on a mission to reincarnate Lucretia. Why not do it with Cloud too?"

"…"

"Tif?"

"I can't say it hasn't crossed my mind. But the thing is, he wanted to die to be with… Aeris." Tears were cracking her voice as she uttered her reasons. "While Lucretia was killed. Against her will. I'm sure Cloud's happy where he is."

"…But isn't there a chance he isn't?"

"I-I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Okay. Okay. Hey, let's talk about your last visit. You were on the verge of tears for what? –the whole time you were here." The ninja spoke in a neutral tone, not monotone, but neutral.

"Haha, yeah I know. But I wasn't depressed the _whole_ time. I began to loosen up at The Joint." Loosen up, open up. Same thing.

"Oh yeah. That club was the bomb. But I wouldn't say loosen up as much as drunk."

"I was not!"

"D-R-U-N-K! I'm saying you were DER-RU-" A pillow smacked Yuffie flat in the face. Shutting her up gratefully.

"Not drunk. But that guy was _all_ over you, you slut, you." The Zaghan (is that how you spell it?) fighter winked and pointed at Yuffie.

"Clayton? He was hot. Of course he was all over me. I looked hot that night too."

"Hey, so who's hotter? Vince or Clayton?"

"Hmmm, that's a toughy. But I'd have to go with Clayton, he was an awesome kisser. But… if I was to kiss Vince… I think I'd say Vince would be a better kisser, he just looks it."

Sigh. "…"

"What's up, Tif?"

"It's… just… okay, secrets. My next words will be your ears only, no one else. Pinky swear." Sticking out her pinky, Tifa looked at Yuffie intently.

"Pinky swear," Looping her bitten nailed finger around Tifa's neatly clipped one. "Now spill."

"Okay, there was this time where I was crying in the Inn. And Vince was ever so sweet to hold me until I finished crying."

"Awww! Screw Clayton-"

"I sure hope you didn't."

"Let me finish my sentences, woman! Screw Clayton, Vinnie is totally more boyfriend material. Or one-night stand. Either one, I'll take it."

"Hahaha, speak for yourself! Why don't you let _me_ finish my confession before you go off blabbing about your sex life."

"Fine. Fine. But for the record, I didn't."

"Good, you could do better. Well, anyways, I fell asleep with him holding me then yesterday, I fell asleep in his bed with him too. But after that first time, I'd been having this reoccurring dream."

"Something sweaty or something nice?"

"Bit of both."

"Oh, you naughty child."

"I'm older than you!"

"Well I'm smarter than you!"

"Spell encyclopedia then!"

"… Shut up, Tif."

"Anyways! The dream starts off with me under this tree, in this beautiful forest. It's the middle of the night and I hear this snap. I start freaking out a calling for the thing to come out."

"Uh huh." Seemed now that Tifa had conquered Yuffie's complete attention. They sat on top of their bed, Tifa at the head facing Yuffie who was near the foot of the bunk.

"Then this huge mutated Cloud comes out and starts saying all this weird stuff to me. I couldn't make out what he was saying but he took out his sword and I try to run or scream but nothing would happen. I couldn't scream or move!"

"Then?"

"I cover my head but Cloud continued slashing at me with his sword, I could literally feel his blade chewing my skin. Right after it starts, it stops. I turn around and Vince is standing there, he walks to me and just holds me for awhile."

"Yeah…?"

"Then…"

"Then! Then!"

"He kisses me." The second the words left my mouth a loud yelp from Nanaki sounded. The girls turned to face him but only saw Nanaki semi-conscious and quickly slipping back into a deep slumber.

"Keep going."

"Uh… well we keep kissing and it gets… gets…"

"Hotter? And hotter? Until it burns like a fiery core!" The childish shinobi spoke in a British accent and threw her hands in the air for greater effect.

"Shh! Yuffie! Not so loud!"

"Well tell me what happens then!!"

"Okay. It… escalates but! –I wake up before anything is stripped."

"Not in my imagination."

"Ew! Yuffie!"

"Hahaha!"

"But it's just a dream, right? Like it's nothing big?"

"Yeah. Totally."

"Hmm…"

"What _now_, Tif? And you dare call me conceited."

"Should I _really_ be listening to a little girl who can't even spell encyclopedia?"

"Hey! Shut up!!"

"Hahaha! Make me!!" Another pillow fight began but ending due to lack of energy. The two friends finally fell asleep feeling content from their girl talk but unknown to them, Vincent was wide-awake.


	18. Shocking, isn't it?

Disclaimer: I own Final Fantasy 7 –somebody walks up to me and whispers something in my ear- OH SHIT, I mean I DON'T own final fantasy 7 =) - innocent smile.

Hey there. If you can, please review more =) =) it **really** does help. So please review. Thanks!!

* * *

Shocking, Isn't it?

Vincent walked into the room chatting pleasantly with Nanaki, but once inside, the girls had already set up a… tent? Fabric shelter? Dismissing their child-like behavior, he moved around to his and Nanaki's king-sized bed.

"So, I'm just wondering. If you wouldn't mind me asking, what happened with you and Lucretia?"

"It is a story I might be able to tell you in time but for now I cannot."

"I… guess that's understanda-"

"Yuffie!" The gentlemen turned to look at the females of the room. The shooter gave Nanaki a questioning look but saw the same confusion in his eyes. The women continued speaking in whispers. The night stretched as far as it could for the boys but after another half-hour of so, the two males decided to go to sleep.

Vincent slept on the right side of the mattress and Nanaki slept on the side closer to the girls' bed. Nanaki went to bed as he was but the ex-Turk decided to sleep in only his pants. For the entire night, Tifa and Yuffie had been speaking in murmurs and whispers. But thirty minutes after the men's side of the room had darkened, when Vincent was only semi-awake, a single phrase brought him back to full awareness.

"Vincent is… attractive." _Tifa? Is that her?_

"Attractive? Attractive?! For god's sake!! He's is totally a TDH!! Tall, dark and hot!!! With the high cheekbones, thin lips and mesmerizing eyes! You can't tell me that he's just 'attractive'!"_ TDH? Yuffie. Why talk about me? Why me of all subjects?_

"Fine! He's positively gorgeous! And yes, yes he is the perfect type of guy; tall, dark and handsome. Also, yes, I will admit he's got the most brilliant eyes. And holy shit, his hair is heavenly. And, and! –he smells unbelievable…"_ I what?!_

Somewhere between him being drop-dead gorgeous, some club named 'The Joint', and Vince's kissing abilities, the gunman found himself pressed against Nanaki's back trying to get as close to the conversation as possible.

"I cover my head but Cloud continued slashing at me with his sword, I could literally feel his blade chewing my skin. Right after it starts, it stops. I turn around and Vince is standing there, he walks to me and just holds me for awhile." Vincent had never been so desperate to hear something before, never. Both hands had found its way into Nanaki's fur, pulling at it slightly trying to calm his surreal nervousness.

"Then! Then!"

"He kisses me." His fingers, sharp and human, all tensed and dug into Nanaki's flesh causing the sleeping beast to scream out but not wake. He could feel the girls' eyes on him but the couldn't see that he was awake. Thank god.

"Okay. It… escalates but! –I wake up before anything is stripped." _Damn. Wait, what? Am I disappointed?!_

"But it's just a dream, right? Like it's nothing big?" _I hope so… I really hope so._ How could this be happening? Better yet, _why_ would this be happening? The tingles, the stomach-knots and yet… complete serenity?! This was all Vincent Valentine had been feeling… ever since he'd began to speak to Tifa during their first adventure but he discarded any thoughts of it.

The poor man didn't receive a wink of sleep that night; instead, he contemplated all the sensations he'd been feeling since the journey had begun. In the end, though, he could only believe it was excitement of Lucretia's resurrection. Even with a handful of powerful proof in front of him.

The next morning was glorious, breakfast was succulent and Yuffie was planning to take a break as her rule of Wutai to join the expedition and take Vincent to the Professor that the gunslinger had heard of, Professor Amy Voon. And they needed any kind of assistance available; none of them had any idea of their next step.

"Okay, we're looking for Amy Voon, right?" It was unreal to see Yuffie so collected, so mature. So business.

"Yes." Nanaki gave her a comforting smile; Tifa and Yuffie were the optimistic fraction of AVALANCHE. With Yuffie's antics and Tifa's kind words, it felt as if nothing could stop the rag-tag team.

"I've heard of her, she's very renowned. She lives on the outskirts." Deciding against the Highwind, they began walking. Yuffie, Tifa and Shera led the way, while the men trailed behind. Vincent could hear incoherent whispers; they'd occasionally look back at them and explode into laughter. They were talking about them, the men.

Closing in on the large white mansion, a woman with square-rimmed glasses was in the garden, prepping her flowers for the up-coming gardening contest. Yuffie had ordered someone in her large staff to call Ms. Voon and arrange a good time to meet and such.

"Professor Voon!! Open the gate! … Please!" The ostentatious young ninja called for the Wutainese woman's attention. Following the grey-eyed brunette's request, Amy pressed her finger against a button that compelled the gates to swing wide, opening as if they were welcoming arms. Stone tiles fabricated a path to the wealthy professor's estate.

"Hi there. I'm Amy Voon."

An hour later, they had filled the middle-aged University professor with knowledge of their mission, not to mention her role in it all. Kind as she was, the memory of Nguyen was still fresh in their minds'. The group had yet to tell neither Yuffie nor Amy of the death that had already occurred in only the beginning of their adventure.

"I've heard stories on the Temple of Ares. I can swear to you that it's pretty much a ruin of some kind of circular room. Nothing more. No pedestal or anything." Amy knew her work; she was a historian for twelve years.

"In both books, it speaks of the same spell we're trying to perform and it only says we have to put the dagger in the center of the room. Possibly it's some kind of key?" As always, Nanaki was the only one having an intense conversation with Amy. The rest sat around leisurely, doing their thing. Cid sat with Shera, both caring for Ashley. Vincent stood alone, having a hell of a time glancing at Tifa and Yuffie every time he felt their eyes on him. But the moment he'd roll his pupils towards them, they'd turn away and giggle off. God, it was the about the dream wasn't it?

"Guys," Nanaki shook them from their worlds so he could speak. "Amy's gave us the information we need. We should get go get some dinner."

The band of fighters was given the bits and pieces of the conversation that was exchanged between Nanaki and Amy. Temple of Ares was in the ocean, deep in the ocean. Between Midgar and Costa Del Sol, therefore, visiting Barrett would be on the way. They'd have to find a woman named Tammy Du in Costa Del Sol, she was the owner of a submarine.

Once they boarded the Highwind, a certain idea began to manifest itself within everyone's mind. Costa Del Sol was also the number one place to relax. By the end of dinner, they'd decided to pick up Barrett and his family and stop at Costa Del Sol for some R and R.

A cool breeze blew through the open window, whipping his hair silky hair back. Some unknown reason, Vincent felt guilty for wanting a small break in Costa Del Sol. He was supposed to be bringing Lucretia back to life. That was what was clawing his insides, right? Or maybe it was hearing Tifa talk of him in such a light tone, one he had never heard Lucretia to talk of him with.

Could he truly be falling for the wonderfully compassionate martial artist? Or was it simply raw lust from not being in a woman's touch for so long? Well. Not a _sincere_ touch. The strong force that pulled him to Lucretia had weakened by so much and replaced by magnetization to Tifa's every move, every scent and every word. Something he'd only been recently doing with Lucretia. _This can't be happening._

Tifa gazed out of the glass window; no clouds were visible. The dream she'd discussed with Yuffie was still nagging her. Telling someone, like Yuffie, seemed like a good way to make the constant guilty poke at her conscious disappear. But onyx strands, soft lips, piercing crimson eyes, warmth of his body, his mellow yet luscious scent still filled her every sense. Only Cloud could do that to her before. What did it mean? _It means nothing. Nothing… right?_

"Daddy! Daddy! Mr. Cid is here!" Roaring engines blew wind into the face of a small cottage; cottage in which a young girl, named Marlene, lived with her father, former AVALANCHE member, Barrett.

Grumble. Mumble. Moan. "…Marlene… go back to bed… it was just a dream…"

"No! Daddy! Mr. Cid's big ship thingy is coming closer!" Somehow, the girl had dipped into a secret stash of energy and was bubbling with enthusiasm.

"Marlene…" The black, beefy man turned to take a look at the clock, it only read 4:23. "Mr. Cid wun be 'ere for another two hours…"

"But-"

"No buts'. Get so-" The engines' noise was slowly getting louder, finally loud enough to reach a sleepy man's ears. "That foo' gotta be kiddin' me."


	19. Important Talks

Disclaimer: I'm writing this story, therefore, that makes it mine. I just… don't own most of the stuff I use… in… it. O.O yeah.

Thanks for the reviews!! =D it really meant a lot to me. Well, its all set, I'm heading to China on July 14th so I doubt I'll be able to write much after that. =) No hard feelings?

XD I'm so freaking happy my friend Rachel joined Fanfiction.net =D =D most of my friends are only occasional readers but they don't have accounts which sucks. I feel like a fish out of water =S

I got a flame =) The person didn't like the way I… described Tifa's eyes and hair. If you guys have any more problems, please tell me =) but that doesn't mean I'd change anything, it just means I'll take a look at it with a different perspective… yeah. –ahem- LET'S BEGIN.

Oh yeah... do you guys think I'm making this story too long...?

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Important Talks.

Ding-dong…

Ding-Ding…

"Open the god damned door!" A muffled voice cried on the other side of the entrance. "Barrett!"

The mammoth man dragged his two feet behind him with an over-stimulated girl biting his heels. As he closed in on the doorknob, his anger and agitation was almost boiling over. Pulling at the handle, Cid and the rest of the gang stood smiling at him.

"Hi, Barrett!" Tifa's dazzling smile shined brightly at her long-time friend. "I've missed you!"

"Marlene… go wash up." Giving a pout, the young child stepped away to the bathroom, leaving her father wearing a weary expression towards their guests. Once she was out of sight, he let it out. "Do any y'all shit heads have any fuckin' idea what the fuckin' time it is?!"

"It's…" Cid began but couldn't finish his sentence before Nanaki spoke up.

"Around four thirty… in North Corel time."

"No wa-" Yuffie glanced at her watch and took a minute to calculate. "Oh… Hey, would you look at that…"

Sigh. "Just… get yer asses in 'ere."

Once Barrett had passed his grumpy-morning phase, he was open to the idea of dropping by Costa Del Sol and helping them find the notorious Tammy Du. Cid and Nanaki joked with Barrett in the kitchen while Shera taught Yuffie how to change the diaper on Ashley.

"Vince?" The brooding figure stood in the corner, like usual, enjoying his solitaire before Tifa unconsciously shattered it.

"… Yes?" Still not looking at her, he answered completely void of emotion. Vincent was focusing on calming the shivers that conquered his body, despite the warm weather.

"Costa Del Sol's going to be awesome, don't you think?"

"I doubt it. I… do not like crowds or sun or uninhibited wild behavior." Veering his face to her, he continued. "And somehow, all of those things are concentrated in that single location."

"Come on. You can't hate Costa Del Sol! It's the best place ever. It ties up there with Gold Saucer! It's impossible to hate having fun!" His blank stare told her otherwise.

"… Anything's possible."

"Psssh! At least try to have fun. Smile."

"…" Lips still in a straight line, on the verge of bending downward into a frown.

"See." Pointing at her awe-inspiring smile. "Just curve the edge of your lips upwards."

He felt the slightest twitch of his mouth, Yuffie's childish behavior was rubbing off on her and it was charming.

"Hey!" Cid called for everyone's attention. "We're heading to Costa Del Sol tomorrow!"

"Can Auntie Tifa stay here? Daddy?" Marlene peeped around her father's large leg. Barrett could nothing but grin down at her; she was so young, so innocent. No harm in them staying except the shortage of rooms, they'd just have to share.

"A'right, but I only got two extra rooms. Marlene'll sleep with me while's the rest of y'all can decide your own later." Agreeing to Barrett's terms, they noted the united growls that their stomachs were emitting and headed out for dinner.

They walked around the town and a certain place stuck out more than the rest, 'Red's'. Once entering, the restaurant turned out to be a bar and club that coincidentally served food. During the time of their dinner, Tifa had left the dance floor and decided to try to talk to Vince since he was the only one left at the table after Yuffie, Nanaki and Shera had gone off somewhere to dance while Barrett and Cid had ran to the bar. There was a babysitter back at Barrett's taking care of the girls.

Vincent gulped down his vodka, watching as Tifa neared. When she finally arrived, she sat beside him. "Hey, Vince."

"Hello." She raised her hand and gestured for the waitress.

"Vodka shot." The ex-Turk raised an inquiring eyebrow at the martial artist; Vodka was very strong. Once the waitress left, Tifa answered his questioning look. "If you can handle it, I can handle it."

"I drink much more than you."

"How can you determine that? Hope you aren't stalking me." Tifa mouthed a thank you to the woman as she received her awaited drink, then turned back to Vincent and smiled. Now waiting for an answer.

"You… are very amusing." The alcohol he'd already ingested had numbed some of his self-control already; he couldn't help but smile.

"Oh my god. Vincent Valentine is smiling." Her eyes glittered as she took her first sip of her drink. "You look good smiling. Do it more."

The night was lively with chatter, the alcohol making both much more open. Tifa had even managed to muster a laugh from Vincent, not a bark of a laugh but a real hearty one. Shot glasses littered the table; some tipped over but all empties. Once Yuffie, Nanaki and Shera had to watch the intoxicated group back to Barrett's.

"Well… All right. I've got it. Marlene is sleeping in Barrett's room with him. Since there's two guestrooms, that'll leave Marlene's room for Nanaki I guess, since it's so small no one else would really be able to fit into the bed and everything." Yuffie thought everything out, while she spoke, people headed off into their chosen rooms. "Then Shera and her family can sleep in one of the guestrooms so… me, Tifa and Vincent will take the last room."

Everyone else had long entered their rooms and either fell asleep or passed out. Yuffie sat on her and Tifa's bed; Vincent had gotten his own bed. Yuffie had finished in the bathroom, now Tifa was occupying it leaving Vincent to wait.

"Vinnie… Did you have fun tonight?" Inclining her head to one side, she spoke from her bed to Vincent, whom was lying on his bed.

"… Yes…"

"Uh huh. Vinnie… do you think we can spend more time during this journey?" He didn't expect her to be so straightforward…

"… As friends yes, but if you're implying another type of relationship, I doubt it." It wasn't like he disliked her; she was definitely attractive and fun to be with. But his mind was already swimming with images of Lucretia and Tifa.

"Oh… it's because I'm so young, isn't it? Because I'm not grown-up enough." The small ninja averted her eyes from him, wrapping herself in her arms. "That's what everyone keeps thinking, but they're wrong. I'm responsible. I'm mature."

"Yuffie…"

"I'm serious!" Her dusky irises shot into his, she demanded to be looked as an adult. "I'm not a kid anymore."

"I know you are not a child anymore. You are an adult, no one can tell you otherwise."

"… Thanks, Vinnie, Tifa was right, you have changed." Giving a wide-mouthed yawn, her arm reached out and clicked off the lamp on her side of the room. "Nighty night."

Vincent heard the running water stop, Tifa would be out soon. Determining that if he stayed laying on the cushy bed another second, he'd fall asleep; he got up and found his pants that Barrett had given him to wear to sleep and went to the washroom door. His claw held his clothing as he leaned beside the door, waiting. A ghost of a smile was beginning to possess his lips when he could hear Tifa's humming. But another second crossed before he also heard a hissing curse. Before he could react, the door opened and Tifa stepped out in only a towel.

"Ahhh!! Vince! What the hell are you doing standing there?!" Clenching the towel to her body, insuring it wouldn't slip off. She must have forgotten her clothing.

"I-I was waiting for you… to be finished." His seditious eyes embarked on an expedition to search her form. Her hair was tied into a high bun so it wouldn't get wet while her face was flushed from the heat of the steam. Her curves were prominent but the towel ended mid-thigh, leaving her perfect legs showing. The woman's arms covered her voluptuous ches-

"Vince!" He usually had more willpower however today, the alcohol had ripped some away and her body was a masterpiece, how could a man resist? Now, though, was one of those moments he wished he had had more self-discipline. Her eyes were cold, obviously peeved at him for acting like every other man in her life. Still… she couldn't stay angry. "J-Just go, I'm going to get some sleep."

The gunman, still thinking of Tifa, walked in to the bathroom and closed the door. This journey was going to have _a lot_ of twists and bumps in the road…


	20. Waking From Denial

Disclaimer: Don't claim or own Final Fantasy 7… or its characters… or the towns… or the personality traits… etc…

-sigh- so how's everybody? Hopefully good. Or better, great. If not, my sympathy goes to you.

Oh. This chapter will be **lemony**…** citrusy**?? Not a very good lemon thing because… frankly, writing about such things embarrasses me. –blush profusely- so you should notice uhhh not so much 'stuff' happening. I'll leave the sexual stuff to Mirri! =)

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Waking from Denial.

Steam floated away from the hot water; his hands, both flesh and gold, clenched a towel in the scorching liquid. Tifa was still burned in his mind. He couldn't erase her, she gripped his mind's eye with mighty strength. Vincent couldn't help but believe he'd fallen for the fighter… all he could ever think of was she. He'd have to force her out of his head; so many times, the gunman had caught himself comparing Tifa to Lucretia. Could he really go on a great journey for one woman and then end up falling for another? Or had he already done that? Sigh. _Forget it._

Finally exiting the bathroom, he walked toward his bed. But not before stopping to look at Tifa. She looked so peaceful, so… untroubled. Giving her final glance, he pulled himself under his covers. Turning onto his left side, he watched Tifa's face, whose lay on her right side on her bed with Yuffie.

Vincent couldn't bring himself to shut his eyes; he just wanted to watch her. But knowing that he had a long day tomorrow, he let himself drift into a peaceful sleep. Until the keen-eared man heard a ruffle near his head, cracking an eye open, he saw Tifa looking down at him.

"Vince?" Only speaking in a whisper, her voice sounded so lovely. "Vince, are you awake?"

"… Yes." Sitting up, Vincent scooted back so he could lean on the headboard of his bed. "But you shouldn't be."

Giggle. Giggle. "You shouldn't worry about little old me." However, instead of returning to her bed, the martial artist went to the other side of his bunk and sat down uncomfortably close to Vincent. "I can take care of myself."

"You should go back to bed." Vincent felt a heating sensation in his cheeks.

"I am in bed." The woman wrapped her arms around his torsos, letting her right index finger trace his bare chest. "With you."

Gulping hard, he felt a friend of his squirm and he was perspiring from nervousness. "Tifa…"

"Shhhh, don't talk." Hot lips pressed on his neck, trailing up to his jawbone before he at last realized what was going on. _Do I kiss her? Or push her off?_ But he couldn't find the willpower to fight the temptation, especially when he found himself being straddled by the Nibelhiem beauty.

Letting Tifa's mouth cover his, he noticed how her lips were exactly like his dream before, how he imagined them to be. Soft and cushioning. A tongue touched his lips, begging for entrance and he giving it to her. While their tongues fought each other, Vincent pulled Tifa's T-shirt over her head, only breaking their enchanting kiss for a second.

Vincent, now anxious for the inevitable, rolled on top of her, allowing nimble fingers to unbutton his only other clothing aside from his boxers, his pants. Now his manhood throbbing, imploring for release. Trying his best not to scratch or cut Tifa while he slipped his hands behind her, in search of the clasp to her bra. As he busied himself with that, a sly hand managed to slip into his boxers, grasping his enlarged member, causing a short gasp from Vincent. Suddenly, like a speeding train, a realization hit him, Yuffie.

Breaking the kiss, which was _much_ more difficult than it might sound, he sat up on his knees. "We'll w-wake Yuffie."

Tifa continued to peck and lick his neck throughout his sentence, making it hard for Vincent to focus on his words. "She's not here…"

Turning his head, with the erotic woman clinging to him, he saw that she had not lied, Yuffie had disappeared to some mysterious place. But he could only contemplate it for a couple of moments before Tifa pulled him back down and stripped off the rest of his clothing. Noting her enthusiasm, Vincent lip-locked with her with fierce eagerness. The bra had long been disposed of; finally did he realize that she didn't wear any pants, only black panties. Pulling them off slowly, everything began to sink in. Him, Vincent Valentine, was in bed with her, Tifa Lockheart. _I never would have imagined…_

Tifa spread her legs farther apart, granting entrance to him. Without hesitation, he drove into her, first with a confusing rhythm but soon found a sensual pace. Moans grew into groans that evolved into screams and pants for air.

"Vincent!" Her walls contracted around his aroused member.

"Tifa!"

"Tifa!" One final thrust sent him over the edge, feeling serge of emotions of pleasure. Falling beside his lovely mate, he shut his eyes.

A forceful shove knocked him almost off the side of the bed. Practically pulling his lids open, instead of Tifa he saw Yuffie's face. Fearing the worst, he shot up with wide eyes and mouth agape.

"Hahaha. Oh my god, Vince! You are so lucky Tifa's too busy taking her shower to have heard you." Falling onto his bed, with salty tears almost spilling from her eyes. Imitating Vincent's cries, she exclaimed. "Tifa! Ti-"

The ex-Turk clamped his hand over the ninja's mouth, giving her one of his darkest glares. "Quiet Yuffie."

Shaking off the concealing hand, the young girl turned to face him. "If I were you, I wouldn't be giving me orders… I mean I can just _tell_ Tifa about you screaming her name… I wonder what you'd be doing screaming her name for…"

"… No reason…"

"Oh, really now? I can think about one hot, sweaty, _dirty_ reason." A sinister grin overtook her expression.

"No!" _Was… it all a dream? Of course… she has too much dignity to ever do such an act with me. A monster._ Taking on a more solemn tone, Vincent hid his eyes with his hair from Yuffie. "Just… don't say anything, Yuffie."

The shinobi opened her mouth, about to question his tone out of worry, but Tifa opened the door to the bathroom. Smiling ignorantly, not seeing Vincent's melancholy facial cast. Vincent entered the washroom; removing his clothing, he rushed into shower, hoping the hot steaming water would wash away the grief that seemed to overwhelm him.

When done, they got on the Highwind, Vincent stood on the deck with Tifa standing beside him. Seemingly enjoying the silence that had descended on them. Both calm on the exterior but full of heartache and bafflement inside. Tifa, puzzled with the passions that Vincent caused her to feel. Vincent, now couldn't deny the feelings he had for Tifa; he hated yet loved it. Both feeling a cold grip clench their hearts whenever they glanced at the other, thinking the opposite of what they truly felt.

Unknown to them, Yuffie watched them. She knew how much happiness could come from them being together, but they'd need her help. Tifa was still hurting from Cloud and Vincent was still loyal to Lucretia. Costa Del Sol came into view and it dawned on her, the beach, the heat, it was the perfect place for love to bloom.

"We're here." Nanaki called for the three on the deck. As they walked to find a place to stay, Yuffie strolled beside Tifa. Seeing that the timing was exact, the sneaky thief stuck out her foot, tripping Tifa whom was suppose to land in Vincent's arms. But not even seconds after Yuffie set her plan in motion Nanaki called to Vincent, who turned his attention away from Tifa.

A hot glare was scalding Yuffie as Tifa slowly stood from her embarrassing flat-down-on-her-face fall. "Yuffie! What the hell?!"

"Hehe… hehe… umm… woops…?" The fist-fighting warrior let out a shriek before dashing after Yuffie, who'd spurt into a run. The rest could only raise their eyebrows, feeling like they missed something important. Oh yeah, Costa Del Sol was going to be the _perfect_ place for love to bloom.


	21. Conflicts of the Heart

Disclaimer: Don't yeah… and yeah.

Hey, this'll probably be my last chapter until mid-August unless I can find time to write in China. Which I doubt I will because my mom is… weird and will scream and yell at me if she finds me on a computer in China instead of helping her find a bunch of crap we don't need. WeEEeeeell! I'll be updating as fast as I can! Later.

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Conflicts of the Heart.

The daystar shined down on them as they walked to their Inn. Cid was playing a game of peek-a-boo with his new daughter, Ashley, whom lay in Shera's arms. Nanaki, like always, was speaking animatedly with Vincent. Tifa stilled seemed slightly peeved but was satisfied after catching Yuffie, who was disheveled and was slouching beside Tifa.

"Finally! We're here!" Sweat oozed from Shera's forehead; the Inn stood in front of them. Once entering their rooms, they stripped off any unnecessary clothing, like jackets and cloaks. The Highwinds' rented one room and the Wallaces' took another room, leaving the usual quartet to take the last room.

"Hey, Tifa! Let's go out to the beach!" Yuffie jumped out of the bathroom, clad in a saucy red two-piece. Vincent surveyed her form; she'd developed slightly over the time they'd been apart.

"Sure. But don't forget to wear a T-shirt or something else you get burned." The female fighter slipped into the washroom. Nanaki and Yuffie began to whisper back and forth, only looking up to see where Vincent was in the room.

The calm exterior of Vincent was holding up but his stomach was double knotting itself, he knew Yuffie was genius at mischief and Nanaki had obviously been taken to the scheming idea. Now they were together, clearly concocting some master plan that included him. But all things come to an end; therefore, the couple broke apart however, they continued to eye the ex-Turk.

Tension began to build as the hush prolonged. Only a moment before the thick atmosphere would have crushed them, the lavatory door being swung open shattered it. Tifa stepped out in an oversized T-shirt; her bare legs stuck out from underneath it. A gentle smile graced her lips. "Vince, come to the beach with us."

"I-…" The words got caught in his throat, he simply gave a sigh and nodded in agreement. He grabbed some clothing and went inside the bathroom.

After gathering everyone else, they headed down to the beach. Cid wore swim trunks and so did Barrett, but Vincent being Vincent, refused to go topless. He could only compromise to a white tank and black-swim shorts. Shera wore a navy one-piece with Ashley in a pink one-piece, though neither one were planning to do any swimming.

Yuffie pulled her shirt over her head, and headed to the water. Once shin-high in the ocean, she waved for Tifa. The luscious woman only yanked the T-shirt up to her midriff when she could feel the beaches male's population eyes crawling to her, waiting for her to finish. She didn't see Vincent gawking like the rest.

Throwing the white garment to Shera, her frosty halter bathing suit caused every straight man, married or single, to ogle at her as she tried to make her way to the water. A troubled look overtook her expression, Vincent seeing this, grabbed a towel and ran to her. After he draped it over her shoulders, shielding most of her skin, a united groan escaped the men's mouths.

"Thanks." Tifa wrapped her fingers around the edge of the fabric but Vincent kept his hands on her shoulders, causing a blush to emit from Tifa's cheeks. Vincent began to walk back to where the others were with the towel after Tifa had reached the safety of the water with Yuffie when a blue-eyed vixen with orange streaks coursing down her chocolate strands walked up to him.

"That was a really sweet thing you did for your girlfriend." Vincent couldn't help but remark that this woman's smile was nothing in comparison to Tifa's.

"She… isn't my girlfriend." A slight pang hit his insides; it even hurt to say it…

"Oh. Do you… have a lover?" Her black swimsuit flaunted much of her skin but she seemed sincere at heart.

"Loving someone but no lover." Sympathy drenched her irises as she stared upon his face.

"She must be crazy. You've got to be one of the finest boys I've seen in all of Costa Del Sol, not to mention a gentleman for looking at my face, not my chest." Her pink tinted sunglasses slid down to the end of her nose; she gave him a gentle smile. "Can I buy you something? A soda or ice cream?"

Turning his head back towards Tifa, he saw her chatting happily to a blonde man. _I bet she'll always like blondes more than… guy's with black hair. _Veering his attention back at the mystery woman, he couldn't help but think. _If I can just forget about Tifa. I'll be fine._ "I believe I should be asking you the same thing."

"So… do you think I can have your number?" Shane, a vibrant blonde man that had 'accidentally' hit Yuffie with a beach ball, gave her a to-die-for grin. But. It had minimal affect on Tifa because somewhere in the midst of her mind, Vincent was there. Ripping a large amount of attention from reality.

"I… don't think so."

"Why not…?"

"I'm…not looking for this kind of thing right now." _So what am I looking for? _A small voice spoke out_. Maybe a dark-haired hottie going by the name of Vincent Valentine._

"Oh…" One last desperately dispirited look before he walked away. Tifa watched as he walked away._ Boy… he looks a lot like Cloud_. Afterwards, the martial artist searched for Yuffie, whom was staring off towards the shore while rubbing the side of her head, the place where the ball had hit.

Tifa walked beside her and looked to where Yuffie was gaping. A drop-dead gorgeous woman was talking up a storm with an equally sizzling man, more specifically, Vincent. Something lurched inside of Tifa; something cringed.

"Well, fine! How about poetry? Did you try reciting poetry?" Rachel, Ms. Orange-streaks-and-blue-eyes, gave Vincent suggestions to win his crush over.

"Poetry…?"

"Yeah, us women love that stuff." The watery depths had already swallowed the day when Cid called for the girls and Vincent.

"I've… got to go." Rachel looked disappointed but heard Cid yell. She also saw the longing look Vincent wore as Tifa walked passed him.

"So, she's the one. She's stunning, don't let her slip away." She gave him one last goodbye kiss on the cheek before letting him follow the rest of AVALANCHE. Tifa had seen. "I'll be seeing you."

The group went back to their rooms with high spirits, having just spent a day on the sunny beach. Tifa went back to talk to Vincent after Yuffie and Nanaki disappeared to some place and the families went back to their designated rooms.

"Did you have fun today, Vince?" Taking a seat beside the shooter, still in her swim suit.

"I… guess." Throughout the day, even while speaking to Rachel, he felt as if every person on the beach was staring with disgust at his claw. But Vince was quite used to it; it didn't _really_ trouble him. So in a way… yes, he did have fun.

"I… saw you talking to a girl. She was really pretty." _I must have taken half of the beach back with me…_ Frustrated, not sure at her dirty hair or something else, Tifa tugged at her hair with a towel, trying to strain all of the sand. "I… didn't think you'd go and talk to someone else."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" A tinge of annoyance entered his tone, if he showed compassion now, he'd be sucked in too far. He would never be able to get over Tifa.

"I-I guess… you just never seemed to make an effort to talk to other people…" Dropping her eyes, dark locks cascaded Tifa's face. "I thought you only talked to us. I'm not saying you can't talk to other people, I-"

"Then what are you saying?" She wouldn't look at him, something must have happened. However, he had to be cruel and cold to just get her out of his mind. Even Chaos had been nagging him non-stop about his newfound feelings. He couldn't find any tenderness at the moment, he was supposed to be loyal, to love Lucretia forever, now, Tifa was interfering.

"N-nothing! ... Just forget I said anything…" Standing, Tifa walked into the washroom but before she mumbled something that not even Vincent could make out. As the woman slugged away, he felt the smallest poke at his heart but it wasn't enough for him to be compelled to apologize… or even say anything.

The darkness pulled over them, Vincent went to bed with no one else in the room, Yuffie had yet to return with Nanaki and Tifa was still in the bathroom when he decided to turn in.

The fist fighter exited the bathroom in a simple white mini dress; it reached just above her knees and was made a loose fabric that allowed easy movement. Instead of heading to bed, she headed to the door. _Do I love him?_ As her hand touched the surface of the door, Tifa looked back at a slumbering Vincent. _I couldn't have gotten over Cloud so fast… I couldn't have… Can I fall in love so quickly after such a shocking pain? Can I? Or does my heart contain Vincent? …Which one do I love?_

Too many questions immersed her mind; she would never be able to sleep. The starry sky possessed her, causing her to leave the room. _Maybe a little walk…_ Only moments after Tifa left, the door creaked open. A small face peeked in, Yuffie Kisaragi.

In a whisper, she spoke to herself with a sneaky smile. "Commence operation 'Match the Stars'."

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Sorry about the cliffhanger... I'll try my best to write some in China and update before I come back. Please review =) it really does help.


	22. Breathing a NonExistent Breath

Disclaimer: Don't own FF7. But do I claim it… now. That might be another story…

Well, I'm still in China but I managed to get into an internet cafe. Damn... I miss everything at home. Since being here, I've written two chapters (but I'll only post one for now since I forgot the book I wrote the other one in at the hotel), a CloudAeris/TifaReno fanfic (which so far is also in the same book and is a one-shot that could become a multichap) PLUS I've been organizing a Seph/Tifa story in my head. I really wanted to write a fanfic on something else than FF7... maybe cowboy bebop..... oh well. I 'll be inspired when I see him again. =) Savour this chappy for now!

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Breathing a Non-Existent Breath

The sand was so soft; Tifa really had to hand it to Nanaki for the idea. She would have never thought to go to the beach to relax. Everything on the beach was illuminated a slight whitish blue. The tide swished onto the shore, no one was here. Complete serenity. But everything was shattered when the acute ears of the fighter picked up on a low growl.

"Help! Vincent!" Shrieks were shaking his mind into consciousness. "Oh my freaking god! Help! It's Tifa!!"

The half-conscious man pulled up his head to see what the commotion was about, Yuffie was poking and shoving him around in his bed, screaming for assistance. Obviously aggravated for being woken at such an hour, the gunman scowled before questioning her. "What's wrong now Yuffie?"

"It's Tifa!! She went somewhere and there was this news warning of some monsters!!"

"In Costa Del Sol…? Now…?"

"Yes!! You've got to go find her!!"

"Why can't you?"

"Uh… Because! Because you were a Turk before and are good at this stuff!! And Nanaki's nowhere to be found either! So you're the last hope god damn it!" Giving a sigh, Vincent shooed Yuffie from the room so he could dress and go on the search. Damn Tifa.

The ninja waited at the door for him, the second Vincent exited she pointed the opposite direction he was walking and slammed straight into him.

"I thought the elevator was that way!"

"No. See?" Directing his finger down the hall, they could see an elderly couple entering the elevator.

"Oh."

Once outside, Yuffie suggested he look at the beach and she'd check out the town since Vincent disliked crowds. As he neared the beach, a scream was heard. Speeding his pace, Vincent ran to the scene only to see a fiery ball encircling a woman. He couldn't find the source so his main mission was to get the poor girl out of the attack. But when he got close the spell completely disappeared. Leaving a singed Tifa to fall to the sand.

Any ill feelings that were present before disintegrated with the flames, Vince hustled to her side. "Tifa!"

Lifting her head, she spoke. "I'm... fine. I'm not hurt."

"… Good." Using his human hand, he tried to rub some of the ash off her angelic face. "Maybe you should go in the water."

Giving a smile, Tifa headed to the water. Vincent reached for his PHS to call Yuffie but he couldn't find it. Nor his wallet, which held his money, his ID and the inn room card, that allowed access into the room. Flashing back, he remembered Yuffie bumping into him earlier. That bitch. _But why would she steal my wallet? Instead of my materia?_ Sensing someone coming closer, he turned his head Tifa and it all made sense. Tifa and him on a beach. Under the starry night and with no way of getting back into their inn room.

"… Vince, why did you come out here? I mean you couldn't have been just be at the right place at the right time." The stunning warrior was only in a simple white dress that was thin. Her face was splashed with water.

"Why not?" Vincent sat down in the sand. _Wow… this is soft._

"I don't have that kind of luck." Both smiled, even chuckling a little. Awkwardness had become a factor in their conversation now after their last talk.

"Yuffie said there was a monster out here on the prowl. Endangering you, no doubt. In the process of searching she stole my wallet that was our only access back to our inn room and then she split." Shivering slightly and thoroughly shocked, Tifa, plopped her butt down beside him.

"… Sometimes I can just hate that thief." The ex-Turk removed his crimson cloak and draped it over her shoulders, conserving whatever heat it could. "Thanks."

"… Do you still wish upon the stars?" Tonight was clear, no clouds, only the kazillion stars and the moon.

"… Yes. Do you?"

"I used to… I guess I can start again." In the progress of getting comfortable, they both decided to lay back so the view of the sky was perfect. Tifa pulled the cloak over both of them, kind of like a blanket.

"I'm sorry for what I said back there. About you talking to other people." With eyes glued to the sky, neither one of them looked at the other.

"I apologize for snapping. But I'll always be talking to other people aside from you and the group."

Vincent's words made Tifa realize something. He'd always talk to other girls, if not, he'd bring back Lucretia and they'd go off somewhere and get married. Did she love him? If she did, she had to tell him. If not… why does it feel like she does? _Give me a sign…_ The moment she thought of it, a wishing star shot across the sky. Tifa let her eyes follow it and the shooting star pulled her attention to Vince's form, disappearing behind him. _What a sign._

She sat up, letting her side of the 'blanket' fall. Tipping her head upwards, she shut her eyes, basking in the moon's luminescence. In that moment, the mysterious member of their group looked upon Tifa. Lucretia was gone. Tifa was there and she was perfection. A sudden warmth climbed into his insides. Thirty years of mourning that he couldn't recall, a journey that cost a life that he couldn't care about; all there was in his mind was the goddess beside him.

Breaking his concentration, Tifa voiced out. "Vince?"

"Mmm?" Still in a trance, that was the best he could come up with.

"What's love?" Flying back to reality, he pondered the question for a moment.

"Love… cannot be defined. It can only be described in an abstract manner." Tifa fell back onto her elbows, seemingly absorbing his words.

"So… describe it for me." Facing each other, the woman warrior peered into his eyes.

"It feels like contrast…"

"And… that means _what_?"

"Like being cold and hot at the same moment. Adventurous yet secure and calm."

"Short of breath but can't stop breathing him in."

"Yes…"

"Is that what you feel about Lucretia?"

"Huh? Oh. … yes." A single eyebrow arched.

"You hesitated, Vincent Valentine. What are you hiding? … Is there someone else?" Started out as simple gibberish, the discussion veered off to a more serious manner.

"…"

"There is someone else…" Tifa flopped back down on her back, Vince did the same. _Could it be that orange-streaks girl from earlier today?_ Tears pricked at her eyes, what was she to do? Tell him how she felt? Tifa had found courage to tell Cloud only to be stung extremely. But if she didn't then she would have no closure and continue to question. Drifting her pupils back to the ebony haired man, he looked serene. The wind was knocked out of her but she couldn't help but continue breathing his scent. It was real. She had to let him know.

Giving her lips a quick lick, she pulled her head above his. Tifa gazed into surprised and mystified eyes for a second before dipping her head lower, letting their mouths touch. _Only brush, if he doesn't do anything, just pull awa-_

Vincent pushed up on his metallic arm while his human one found its way into her silky hair. Almost too shocked to kiss back, Tifa just stayed there until it finally started to sink in. The passion escalated from there, nearly to a natural high point.

"Hey! Get a room!" Both pulled away embarrassed. Looking to another direction of the other with cherry cheeks. However, one thought clutched their brains. _I would have a room if not for Yuffie…_ But as they weren't looking, a shinobi's shadow tackled the guy who had destroyed the gentle scene.

"You jerk! You ruined all my freaking hard work!" Yuffie hissed, hoping her friends on the beach hadn't heard her. "I'm going to kill you!! You- you- insensitive pig!"

Squirming out of her grip, the punk began to run. Yuffie called after him. "Hey! I'm not done with you yet!"

Nanaki chuckled before padding after her, making sure Yuffie wouldn't do anything… irrational. As he moved from the darkness, something glittered; a fire Materia.

Vince and Tifa finally turned back to face each other. Instead of more romantic kisses or touching, the two talked into the night about profound subjects until they both fell asleep in each other's arms. Tomorrow was going to be another day.


	23. Forget Me Not

Disclaimer: Don't own it. You know it.

Boo. Guess who's back from China? Oh yeah. That's right. ME! =) Anyways. Uh, I've been writing somewhat of a story line for something else with my brother so I'm kind of stuck in a rut of blank. Thank gods I wrote this chapter before then. =)

I'm sorry if there's too much fluff or mush through the last couple of chapters but... romance. Hard to write one without either one. But I'll see what I can do, okie dokie??

PS. I wish I can say this chappy isn't fluffy. But I can't seem to define fluff from.... everything else... O.O

PSS. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, I… uhh wrote a bunch of other stuff and stuff… -ahem- yeah.

PSSS. uhh sorry for any typos I didn't have time to proof read it.

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Forget Me Not

A bright light was ebbing away Tifa's sleepiness, closer she got to consciousness, the more aware of her surroundings she became. Firstly, a subtle wet scent was enveloping her. Second... the woman was wrapped up in arms, warm, welcoming arms. Slowly opening her eye's shutters, Vincent's tranquil face fuzzed in only a short distance from her own. Recalling the previous night's events, a single moment stuck out from the rest; the kiss. The usually touch-hating man did not flinch nor push her away. On the contrary, Tifa had only planned on pecking his lips but strong arms had quickly pulled her closer. So... did that mean he felt the same as she did?

"Mmmm." A low groan emitted from the male beside her, breaking her thoughts.

"Morning." Grains of sand stuck to her hair as Tifa sat up, waiting for the gunman to do the same. "We should get back to the Inn."

"Yes. We should." Even last night, after the lip-lock, a thick uncomfortable tension had settled amongst the two.

A young Wutainese girl pouted at her comrade. "Those stupid asshole ruined all our hard planning and work!! Why couldn't that loser keep his freaking mouth shut?!"

"Either way, that doesn't give you the right to beat him half to death." Speaking a serious phrase, Nanaki couldn't help but smile. The rude boy had it coming.

"Yes it does!"

"How?"

"Well, you see-" A loud knock knock knock at the door cut off the ninja child's words.

Nanaki barely managed to pull off the chain lock before Tifa forced the door open. "Yuffie!"

Knitting her fingers behind her back, the younger woman tried to look innocent; Tifa and Vincent were bound to have figured out who the criminals were. But before a brawl could begin, Cid, Barrett and their families came bustling through the entrance. "Ready?"

The group hit the town, scouring for anything on the ever elusive Tammy Du. She was vital to their spell, the submarine driver was one of the few people that knew the exact location of the Ares Temple and the only one that could take them there. In the deep depths of blue and navy, a ruined temple, which would only be a faded arrangement of rocks, would be hard to notice through the aquatic world. As the time slowly disappeared, not much information piled up. Though... they had received the location of her son, Chris 'Chen'. Soon, though, the neon signs ceased to glow leaving no more people to question.

As the team moved to the Inn, Tifa trailed behind with Vincent.

"Hey." She gave a quick wave to ensure his attention was with her.

"Hello."

"I thought maybe we could talk... about last night." Only five feet something, her legs struggled to keep up with his now quickened pace; it was obvious he didn't want to speak of the subject.

"I do not wish to speak of such things." As the group reached the Inn, the vibrant fighter wouldn't give up.

"Last me rephrase that," A gloved hand flew out and grabbed his human arm, stopping him from enter their room. "I think we _should _talk about last night."

The seconds ticked by and the tension grew thicker. Instantaneously, Vincent twisted out of her grip but faced Tifa. "And what exactly do you wish to speak about?"

It's now or never. "The kiss."

"…" Expression, unreadable; body, tense; all the whilst his eyes avoided hers like a plague.

"if you don't say something, I'm going to start talking."

"…"

"Fine." Out in the soulless hall, aside from the two, Tifa poured out all the thoughts that had been whirling in her head earlier. "For the longest time, Cloud was… everything. I only wanted him to be the only one to… to touch me, look at me; his scent the only one to envelope me."

Turning her back to Valentine, Tifa crossed her pale arms protectively over her chest. "And I didn't think anything could change that… much less another person."

Needing to see him, Lockheart turned to him. _Don't let the stars be wrong._ "Then you came along."

Searching his face for a reaction that would never come. "You made it all so good for me, you not only saved my life, you made it worth living."

"…"

"Then you started to become my everything." Vince continued to avert his eyes as he processed the new information. "… Say something."

"…" The stoic man did nothing but cross his arms.

"Please?" Desperate for some kind of recognition, the girl pressed herself against him, leaving barely inches between their faces.

"… Forget." As if bitten by a venomous snake, the graceful fighter shot back.

"What…?"

"Forget it all." At last pulling his eyes from the end of the hall, the blood pupils aligned with Tifa's. Only one thing was apparent in them, Lucretia. "Forget your everything and let me be only a comrade in battle. Leave the kiss in the past."

"How can you say that?" Fragile tears glossed over her eyes; tears that represented easy break. " Didn't you feel it?! The hot, the cold?! You must have!"

He did. Vincent Valentine had felt something that was specifically reserved for Lucretia but… for another woman. However, he couldn't just let thirty years of thought and ream die… could he? _I love Lucretia._ But, deep within his long chilled heart, he questioned, was it love or obligation. Did he love her because he loved her or did he only believe he had feelings for her because he was obligated to her? If the first was right, then he should forget his feeling for Tifa and redirect all affection to Lucretia. But. If the second choice was the one to speak true, then he should let free the feelings that Tifa causes him.

You're trying to do the undoable, Vinnie boy. Do you actually think you can control your emotions? Emotions are puppets for everyone else except their owners. The underlying truth. God how he loathed that Chaos could always find it before he could. Sigh. Tifa was young; she didn't really love him… right? Either way, she deserved better than… than some creature.

"I… felt nothing."

For mere moments, the twenty something simply gazed up at him. Out of the blue, she ensnarled Vincent in a sense-numbing smooch.

Every bit of him wanted to follow the urge to attack her in a fury of tongue and lips. Yet green eyes and luscious locks restrained all of his muscles from moving. Did this symbloise that Lucretia would always win against Tifa?

When their mouths parted, the kisser smiled and the kissed. "Did you feel that?"

"I felt…" Thousands of voices chanted yes but a booming voice screamed no. Lucretia's voice. "I felt… nothing."

Suddenly, the sun stopped shining and all that replaced it was a frown and rain. Slightly shoving him, the damaged woman's hand touched the doorknob. Tifa's head was dipped low enough so it was impossible to see her salty tears. "Then… I guess we should forget it."

With that whisper of cracked words, she slipped into the room and disappeared. Vincent stayed where he was, contemplating if he had done the right thing. Damn it. Tifa would forget him in time. _But could he forget her?_


	24. Green Pain

Disclaimer: Do… I still really need to type these _every_ chapter???

Hey there. All right, I have figured out what the rest of the story line will go like, by the looks of it, I should have 42 chapters or so. Do you think that's too much? Good luck… -.-

I have organized (in my head) my next story. Multi-chapter story =) a SephTifa. I think I'll start it after I'm finished this fic since once I start writing something new… I usually never finish the old one. =P I think I'll be calling it 'Taste of Blood' but not sure yet. Any how, to the reading!

PS. I haven't been able to get on the computer for long-periods of time, hence, I haven't been able to read much fics. If you've seen a good fic can you please tell me? I usually like Tifa couplings or Vincent one-shots. =D That'd be great.

PSS. Oh yeah, I just wanted to express my absolute gratitude for over 100 reviews =D **I freaking love you all for reading and reviewing!** XD

* * *

Green Pain.

He'd entered a forest of doubt, had he done the right thing and followed what he knew? Never doing anything spontaneous, the secure path; also known as Lucretia. Vincent always seemed to avoid pain of any sort when he played safe.

Pain. Damn, the cape-donning gentleman thought back at the number of times he attempted something impulsive and got hurt.

_"Victor!" A boy called to him, a classmate or something…_

"It's Vincent." Blurred faces were all Vincent could recall, but the event was burned clearly in his mind.

"Yeah, whatever. You want to cut class with me?" Only age eleven… maybe thirteen, Vincent had just transferred to a new school. Longing for friends, he'd answered yes.

If only… if only he knew; the two had lost track of time, Vince's mother had come to pick him up, instead, she saw no one. Fretting and worrying, she'd called the cops and everyone. Guilt had embedded itself in his soul for months, that pain was a slow aching pain.

"Three. Two… Now!" Jumping from their hiding place, Vincent and… some other Turk shot mercilessly at Shinra's enemy. Unseen and quick, a dagger drove itself into the shooter's arm.

"Talk!" Buff and black, the interrogator punched Vincent across the face.

"Son of a b-" Biting down on his bottom lip, Vince sucked breathes in. Clenching his leg, blood soaked through his pants from the bullet wound.

Ah… the Turks. Physical pain, stinging… burning. But it passes. Though it was immense and harsh, it didn't compete with the last one.

"Vincent… I'm sorry." With two human arms, Vincent held Lucretia at arm's length. "I have to do this. This could a scientific break-through."

"You'll be mutating your own child!"

"I am not mutating him, I'm evolving him." Pulling from his grasp, his love gazed at him. "What we had was a fling. Not even, it was just sex. Nothing more."

Crumpling to the floor, he cradled his head in his hands. Vincent didn't see the sheer anger and jealousy of Hojo's eyes behind him. Nor did he see them disappear into the shadows.

Heartbreak. A deadly shock to the system. Ripping, tearing pain. Agonizing and stuffy discomfort. It was horrible. He… didn't do that to Tifa… did he?

A sudden change in environment jostled his acute senses. Cid's door opened, he was dressed and giving Vincent an odd look. "Damn, you're fucking fast. When'd you wake up?"

It's morning. Before the gunman could answer, Barrett's chamber opened up and Marlene popped out. "Hi Mr. Vincent. Is Aunt Tifa and Aunt Yuffie ready?"

"Yeah." Yuffie stepped out of the room with Nanaki by her side, staggering behind was Tifa. A smile pasted on her face; the same fake smile she used on everyone.

Once retrieving Chris' address from some sources, they headed there. Never had he noticed before, but Tifa was the one that talked to him most, her or Nanaki. Now they were talking to each other leaving only Yuffie to engage in conversation with. _Maybe I'll just stay quiet._

"Vincent Valentine. I need to talk to you." Using a tone that was unfamiliar to him, Yuffie had a serious expression on. Oh, how easily her dusky eyes became stone; it was frightening.

"… Yes?"

"What happened last night?" Speaking in low voices to ensure no one else would hear.

"Nothing."

"So Tifa comes in heartbroken because of nothing?" There it was. Heartbroken. Had he…? "I have never loved someone, but I do know the symptoms when someone has been hurt… bad."

"It is none of your concern. It if between Tifa and I."

"Like hell it is." Still keeping a calm demeanor, Yuffie continued. "I see the way you look at her. I know it might seem like I'm making a game of it, but I know two things; you're afraid of what you're feeling. Lucretia is safe and you want to stay safe. You know what though? You have to take risks at some point, not always but sometimes. Your heart will let you know when. If your heart truly is saying 'Lucretia", then by all means… have her."

"… And the second thing?"

They'd reached the apartment, Barrett called for the two to 'hurry their asses up'. Before the shinobi pranced off, three words crushed Vincent's perfect planned world. "Tifa loves you."

A man, maybe Cid's height creaked open the door. "May I help you?"

"I'm looking for Chris." Tifa stood at the front of the crowd. "We need his help."

The guy's eyes traveled up and down her body before fully opening the door. "I'm Chris."

"I'm Tifa. That's Cid, Shera and Ashley. Over there is Barrett and Marlene. Nanaki. Yuffie. Vince-nt." Her habit of calling him 'Vince' caused a slight hesitation in the middle of his name. "We're looking for Tammy Du."

Glancing at every one of them, suspicion was slowly seeping into his form. Chris was thin, with dark hair and glasses. "Why?"

"We need her to take us to the Ares Temple." Puzzlement replaced the suspicion. "Do… you know what that is…?"

Breaking into a smile, the man walked over to one of his couches, gesturing for them to sit. "No. Hehe. I don't really follow my mom's work."

"Do… you think you can take us to her?" Tifa gazed upon him with gentle eyes, his features screamed nice-guy. His eyelids seemed to be naturally drooped, not thin –not thick lips, and his eyes had layers of innocence and curiosity.

"How about I take you and your friends to my mom if you are kind enough join me for dinner?" A shocked look mounted both Tifa and Vincent's faces._ Say no. Say no. Say no. Say you don't feel that way about him. Say Tammy isn't worth it… Say no…_

"Sure. I'd love to." Something stabbed his insides, Vin turned away from the two lovebirds to hide his hurt expression. The moment his attention was dragged to the opposite wall, Tifa had glimpsed at him, only to view his back.

"Where are you staying?"

"Lovely Inn."

"Excellent, I'll pick you up around six."

"Sounds great."

As the group made their way back up the stairs and into their respected rooms, Barrett called out. "Uh… guys?"

Everyone twirled around to see Barrett holding Marlene on his shoulders. "Look, Marlene can't miss that much school. An' I gotta get back to Corel 'neways. I'm gonna leave, 'kay? Keep me informed."

Good byes' were exchanged and promises to write, Barrett packed and left. They'd miss him but he had responsibilities.

Vincent watched bitterly as Tifa and Yuffie rushed to get her ready for the date. Make-up, hair, outfit, accessories, perfume, the works. The clock hit six and the martial artist left.

Things squirmed uncomfortably within him, what if they hit it off? Why would it matter?! Sons of bitches, he'd never felt so… so restless over such a trivial matter. He'd chosen Lucretia. He'd listened to his heart. Or was it his mind…? Heart and mind, both alike yet different. So difficult to figure which is which when the two are talking at the same moment. One logical, one emotional; both merely trying to help.

It was past midnight and Tifa had still not returned, everyone had gone to sleep already. Almost ready to drift off himself, the sound of voices was like icy water. Briskly striding to the door, Vincent stared through the small peephole in the door. There stood Tifa and Chris.

"I had a lot of fun tonight." A dazzling smile was glued to her red lips.

"That's great. Um."

"What is it?"

"Can I kiss you good night?" Pink painted his cheeks.

"I'd… like that." Leaning in for a kiss, their lips touched. Vincent didn't stay by the door to watch, something had just snapped in his body. Reaching his bed quickly, he struggled to breathe, the recent scene had knocked the wind out of him. Fleetly stripping everything but his pants, he crawled into bed and waited for the sound of the door opening. Tifa came in almost twenty minutes afterwards. _He probably fucked her too._

OoOoOh, someone's getting green. Now, I'd never thought I'd see this, Vinnie.

I am not jealous.

Then why do you hate the idea of a woman **you** rejected seeing another guy?

Vincent had no answer or retort.


	25. Too Much of Nothing

Disclaimer: I don't own ff7. In any way. O.o

Oh my god… Yesterday I watched this thing… uhhh… music video thing for Advent Children. I cried… It's just so BEAUTIFUL! Haha . Hopefully, you won't judge me for my oddness and weird behavior. =)

Oh yeah. I know I made this… lemony? -in one of the chapters before. I didn't think it was very good but I can't write lemons… good? Anyhow, I want some HONEST opinions if I should write another lemon part in this. If not. Then. Tell me too. =)

PS. Sorry not much happens in this chapter. The infamous Writer's Block Bug has bitten me. -.-

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Too much of Nothing.

"I had a lot of fun tonight." A dazzling smile was glued to her red lips.

"That's great. Um."

"What is it?"

"Can I kiss you good night?" Pink painted his cheeks.

"I'd… like that." Regrets and voices were whispering in her head. All was having something to do with Vincent. The second their lips touched, a serge of… nothing charged her. Instead, I sense of second prize was warming her mouth, maybe it was him, maybe it was her, maybe it was Vincent but Chris' smooch was a pathetic attempt against the mysterious AVALANCHE member.

Breaking away, Tifa took a step back. "I- I'm sorry. I can't do this."

"What do you mean?" As plain as day, he was confused and hurt. Did he do something wrong?

"I… I'm just going through a lot right now." Though understand seeped into his expression, it was evident he didn't.

"Oh. I get it." Veering away from her, the fist-combatant reached for the man.

"Wai-"

Spiraling around, his cold words cut her off. "I've heard it before! I thought you different, I thought you were… you were… _real_."

"I _am_! I really am! Everything in my world's just crazy right now."

"You sure you're just not the crazy one?" Pain struck Tifa; that was a cold thing to say. Tammy's son picked it up, suddenly his kind self again, a soft voice replaced the recent angry one. "Look, I shouldn't have said that… I-I'll meet you guys tomorrow at ten. In the Lobby."

Blink. He was gone. _Sigh, it's going to be a long day tomorrow…_

Entering the room, Tifa finally noticed how exhausted she was. Falling into the fluffy pillows and blanket, she drifted into a sleep. Something tickled her nose, reaching up to scratch it, another tickle touched her eyebrow. Finally opening her eyes, Yuffie was there holding a feather; smiling. The inky haired girl looked down at her hand and saw whipped cream.

"Oh. Real mature."

"Hey, I'm not the one that's sleeping-in."

"What time is it?!"

"Like ten fifteen"

"We were supposed to meet Chris downstairs at ten!"

"Since when?!"

"Since he told me last night!"

"I'll go find him. You wake everyone else and get ready!" Rushing out the door, Yuffie ran smack into someone. Her small sack full of Materia blew open and the glowing orbs littered the hall.

"Gosh. I'm so sorry!" Crawling around, the kleptomaniac desperately tried to gather her lovelies. She was missing one. Last night, she'd counted eleven. Suddenly, a summoning ball was in her face.

"This what you looking for?" Gazing up, Chris knelt by her holding out the missing Materia. "Yuffie, right?"

"Um, yeah." Both slowly stood. _Damn… I never got a good look at this guy. Shit! He's gorgeous…_

"Hey you know. I had a Materia just like this, I was looking for it last night and I couldn't find it." Laughing, he handed it to her. Lucky he didn't notice the guilty look on Yuffie's face.

"Oh. I bet you just misplaced it! If you, uh, look really hard, I'm sure you'll find it." A counterfeit grin was cemented to her expression.

"Ah well. It couldn't do much anyways. It's pretty much useless with such weak powers."

"Oh!" Placing the sphere in his hand. "Hey, here! Have this one. I don't need it… anymore."

"Really? Wow, thanks!"

Unknown to the happy chattering two outside, Tifa had encountered a problem. Her hand reached out but drew back. Vincent was still asleep. How, oh, how to wake him? She'd considered screaming 'everyone UP' but thought better of it because of the other people in the room neighboring theirs. She'd pondered the idea of getting Nanaki to wake him but then that'd be so cowardly…

Quietly, she called out.

"Vince?" He stirred.

"Mm, hashu mut…" Biting her bottom lip, Tifa suppressed her giggles.

"Vincent. Wake up."

"Pef… Mmm…"

"Vince, come on…"

"… Mmm… Tifa…" The bathroom door swung open and a refreshed red creature padded out. Perfect timing.

"Having trouble?"

"Um. Yeah. You get him up." Swiftly slipping away, she went to wake Cid, Shera and Ashley. Was he dreaming of her?

Once everyone was up, Tifa's previous date lead them to his mothers. Tammy's home was extravagant, white and large. Chris was mumbling something through the intercom when the gates started to open. The group stepped into the home and a whiff of lavender hit them.

"Hello." A short woman greeted them. Long hair and with lenses like her son, she could have been his little sister at her height. "I'm Tammy."

"Greetings." Nanaki stepped up. "We are of AVALANCHE and we request your assistance."

"Please sit as me and my son discuss some matters." As Tammy sauntered away with Chris, the team headed into an lavished living space and took their seats. The gunslinger's heightened senses couldn't help but pick up on some tension between the Nibelhiem-born girl and the unemployed wealthy boy. Weren't they supposed to be happy in-ideal-candy-land with each other?

"Alright." Out of nowhere, Tammy popped up from behind one of the chairs. "I've consulted with my son and he's insured me that you have good intentions. So I will escort you to the Ares Temple. But just out of curiosity, may I ask what you plan to do at a ruined circular platform with nothing on it?"

"There is a spell we'd like to perform and this 'circular platform' is vital to it." Like always, Nanaki was the one to begin explaining the scheme.

"And what spell would that be?"

"A… resurrection spell."

"Resurrection of whom?"

"Is it vital that you know?"

"Yes."

He glanced at an expressionless Vincent. "A woman named Lucretia."

"Oh." Hush huddled around the room while Tammy's eyes scorched the ace shooter. She'd seen Nanaki need Vincent's permission. "I will take you to the temple tonight, but please. Make yourselves at home."

As they stood and began to disperse, Chris called to Yuffie. "Hey!"

"Um, Hi." _Damn, he better not have noticed that Materia was already his…_ "Something wrong?"

"Uh, no. I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to the pool or something." His eyes kept flittering over to her and then back to a spot on the floor.

"That'd be fun." Linking her arm to his, the couple marched off.

Everyone had found some kind of entertainment inside the walls of the one house. Nanaki had discovered a library with a never-ending amount of books. Cid had located a built-in bar; Shera had unearthed a spa area but only after dropping Ashley off with some workers in the nursery; while Vincent had managed to get himself in a garden that contained his favorite bloom, Tifa.

She hadn't seen him yet. The girl was too concentrated on the small butterfly that had landed on her finger. Blue, purple and green; it matched the scenery around her. The gunman felt the slightest smile tug at his lips, she was so… so… _something_. No. Clamping his eyelids close, he couldn't let that small part of him take over. Tifa… Tifa was nothing. Nothing to him. Lucretia was everything. Yet, he couldn't stop thinking about the woman with carmine stars.

Screw it. Vincent had been thinking about love for years, _decades_. Maybe just for a moment, just a single moment, he could simply follow his heart without wondering of anything. No wondering of _everything,_ in a way; wondering… _nothing_.

Scars of battle, staining tears of a broken heart, still though, she was beautiful. She was more than beautiful. No words could explain… No one, not even himself, could describe how placid the war within him would become when Tifa was there. Just as her lovable self. A snap of a twig. End of moment.

"So." Pulling away from Tifa, Vincent stared into the serious face of Tammy Du. "Is Lucretia your sister? Friend?"

"No." Almost unbelievably fast, the submarine driver managed to reach out and grab him before he could make one of his hasty escapes.

"Then what is this 'Lucretia' to you?"

"… I love her." Not even a second after the words left his mouth, howling laughter was crying from her questioner. Trying to hide as much annoyance from his voice as he could, for the sake of the location of the temple, he spoke. "May I ask what is so amusing?"

"God, can't you even fool yourself can you? I'm sorry to tell you but it's obvious that Lucretia isn't the one you dream about at night." She didn't know a thing. It was much more complicated than two girls, which did he love.

"She is."

"No. I'm telling you, you don't think about her as much as you're trying to lead on. But… if you ask me," Turning her face, Vince followed her line of vision who landed on Tifa. "She's the one you love."

"No." Brushing off her hand, he disappeared back into the house.

* * *

Sorry not much happened... I'll try better next time. BTW sorry for taking longer than usual to update.


	26. We're The Same In The Dark

Disclaimer: I don't own anything... anymore. VV my friends all stole everything.

Can't... concentrate... -sigh- stupid headache. Don't attack me because this chapter sucks.

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**I'm The Same As You When We're In The Dark.**

"Alright. We'll be waiting here. Take care and don't get hurt!" With one arm cradling Ashley and the other waving goodbye to her husband and friends, Shera stood at the doorstep of the residence of Tammy.

AVALANCHE had decided that Shera and Ashley should stay where they were after their navigator and escort had warned them of extremely dangerous obstacles they might encounter. The car ride was quiet except for the occasional giggle or whisper from Chris and Yuffie.

As they closed in on the water's edge, a large submarine came into view. Tifa stepped out almost last if it wasn't for Vincent behind her; gusts of salty sea winds whipped her hair about. Once inside the metal beast's bowel, Tammy let out a screech of enthusiasms to them as they sunk lower and lower.

Kind amber eyes looked around at her fellow teammates. Nanaki was chatting with Cid, who was obviously missing Shera with his constant fidgets or shifts. Yuffie and Chris were huddled in a corner, flirting and joking. Rich girl and rich boy, they'd make a cute couple. But in the darkest crook of the room, Vincent stood, sulking.

She'd offered him everything she had and still she was not good enough. He expected her to forget him? _Damn it! That's harder than it sounds!_ However... the scenario was uncannily familiar. Tifa had offered Cloud everything and still, death was better than a life with her. That blonde bastard was so selfish; so greedy. He'd created the illusion of happiness so he could get _everything_ from her before ditching. The ex-bar hostess felt tears of sadness burning her eyes yet anger was boiling her blood. Vincent had fabricated a hallucination for her as well, his gentle care and a passionate kiss. Then, he _also_ decides that a _dead_ girl was better. Her fists were trembling at her sides. The droplets hadn't dripped from her lashes yet though.

How could two men she love-d be so... so... harsh? Because they were pigs, that's why. No one ever cared for her, but at least no one had ever led her on a string. Pretending. Deceiving. Before anything else could note itself in her mind, Tifa's senses told her of the spotlight that she was standing in the middle of. Every pair of eyes were upon her.

"Tif...?" Yuffie's voice called to her.

Striding over to Vincent, who seemed shock to see Tifa coming, cause the ninja to stop talking. Gazing upward into the gunman's eyes, he could see the tears teetering, ready to fall. _Oh Vinnie, look at that, you made her cr- _A united gasp around the room sounded after an abrupt cry of skin against flesh. Originally tightly crossed arms were now much more slack; Vincent was bowing slightly to the left with his face staring the same direction. His eyes were wide with shock. Tifa had disappeared almost a second after the assault.

All had gone silent. The tall shooter slowly straightened, tenderly touching the red print on his right cheek, where she had slapped him.

Touching the glass pane that shielded her from the murky depths. A teardrop rolled down her face, followed by another one. God, what had she done?

_Why can't I stop hurting the people I love?_

First Lucretia and now Tifa, was it some kind of disease he had?

_I shouldn't be feeling these emotions for you... _

I mean I came on this journey to bring back Vincent's lover. Not to become it...

_Still though, I can't stop thinking of that kiss._

I've never kissed Lucretia and had the same rush of emotions.

_I feel like I hate you for getting me to love you. Did I just say love?_

Do I love you, Vincent Valentine? ... What's the point? You obviously don't feel the same.

_I just want to... forget. Forget it all. Just to become ignorant, in the dark_.** (a/n some people were confused with this part -points up at the 'thoughts'-, the idea was that Vincent and Tifa shared the same thoughts and I alternated between them to show that. If you didn't understand that before... you can go back and read it again if you want =) if you already understood that, then I'm sorry for interrupting your happy reading . )**

"Hey, wait!" Chris chased down Yuffie. "Maybe you should give her some time to herself."

"..." Unusually, the Wutainese girl stayed quiet, lost of all words. Did... Tifa hate Vincent? What the hell was happening? "... I guess so... I just feel like I'm missing something. You know, like something important."

"Don't worry, you're not alone." Slinging his arm over her shoulders, they made a slow saunter back to the main room. "Don't' worry so much, she'll be fine. They just need to figure it out on their own."

"You always know what to say, don't you?"

Meanwhile, Nanaki and Cid watched as Vincent spoke inside his head. After a couple of moments, he seemed to have come to a halt. _I just want to... forget. Forget it all._ That was when he felt their eyes, curious of him. "Yes?"

"Er." Suddenly, both seemed dumbfounded. Cid managed to stutter out. "Uh, n-nothing."

The handsome figure of Vince strolled towards the direction Tifa had run off to. See how she was doing. He'd seen the tears and he was not heartless. Figuring she'd go to the meeting room, it was the room with the windows. But halfway there, he felt his cheek flare up with stinging pain. Did she really want to see him though?

_Damn, Vinnie, I don't remember you doing anything stupid enough to make her hit you like that. Not even** I** saw that coming. You just can't stop making the women you love hate you._

Suddenly, girlish giggles and a man's chuckles were close. Yuffie and Chris were walking back; as the rounded off another corner, they saw Vincent. The ex-killer's right cheek was still blazing red; it'd take awhile before the true _blue_ would start to show.

"Hi, Vinnie." Her dusky irises showed nothing but pure enjoyment as her arm was looped around Chris' waist and his over her shoulders.

"Have you encountered Tifa?"

"... No. Sorry." Leaving the couple behind, he ventured into the meeting room. Tifa was there, gazing out into the waters as if they were stars.

Her hair stood on end. A chill was running down her back and she could smell the rain and roses. He was near. "Hello, Vincent."

She seemed to be surprising him a lot today. "Greetings."

The unease strained between them as he made his way closer to her. Finding a nice distance beside her, he gazed out the small window beside hers. A crackle requested the attention to be with the intercom. "AVALANCHE members. This is Tammy, your captain, speaking. There is a magical bubble over the temple so you can breathe within it... I think. I have never been inside of it but I will follow you this time because, well, none of you have SCUBA gear and I only have one. Please hold onto something as we breach the wall."

Handles were molded to the wall for such occasion so both Vincent and Tifa grabbed hold of it. But they had not anticipated such a drop or shake. A powerful jolt sent them off the handle and onto the floor. As the turbulence ceased, Vincent was gripping Tifa; frightened she might have fallen away if he'd let go.

Both looked up at each other and locked in a staring contest. More and more their eyes were becoming more alike. Vincent, becoming more alive and open, while Tifa, becoming more desolate and dead.

Quickly, they broke away from gawking and stood up to look outside. They were within the Ares Temple now. The group, not including Tammy nor Chris or any of the crewmembers, left the submarine and began to look for something. There was supposed be something at the center of the temple, where someone would draw a little blood to open the lock. Then they had to place the Aiya dagger into it so it would receive 'blood of a thousand wars'. Sounded fairly simple. Except for the obscuring darkness. Not shadowy dark, but so black, you couldn't make out your own hand inches from your face.

Tifa felt someone take her hand. It was cold... it was Vincent's claw. Then another warm hand clutched her left hand. Soft and supple, it was Yuffie's. Taking out their flashlights, they began to search for the center. They moved in-groups of three, every group having two flashlights.

Vincent stopped though, in mid-step, he heard something. A cry, a cry you have before a battle. Metal clanking. Horses, and hoofs against the rock beneath everyone's feet. The entire group had paused, and listened.

"Hey," Tifa gave Vincent's hand a squeeze, asking for attention. "What's that?"

Pulling his arm one way so he'd know where she was gesturing, an _eerie blue_ glowing cluster was forming in front of them.


	27. Dreaming Of A Hopeless Battle

Disclaimer: ß Look at that!! You can't sue me anymore Bwahaha. In your face.

I hate my classroom, I hate the people (well most of them) in my homeroom and I hate my teachers. I've been told that I can't transfer yet everyone else seems to be able to. The guy I have feelings for is ignoring me, my two best friends are excluding me in everything they do and my closest friend (who I thought knew me) claimed that I was a lesbian. (not that that's a bad thing. It just hurts because I thought she knew me) –sigh- life sucks.

* * *

Dreaming of A Hopeless Battle

"Vincent! Get to the center!" Cid chucked the dagger to a whirling cape, then continued to fight for his life against the freakish army. Moments after Tifa had spotted the odd grouping of blue glow; Nanaki heard the slightest _clank_ behind them. Spinning around, an army of some humans and some decayed skeletons, all dead, stared upon them with death filled gawks.

The Chronos book's calligraphy was written in some kind of lost script, and Nanaki not having enough time between Tammy and Vincent's eagerness to translate most of it, they were left to discover the unseen surprises on their own. As the ancient defense attacked mercilessly, AVALANCHE realized that they could not be killed. I mean, how _do_ you kill something that's already been killed?

While our heroes were falling weaker and more injured, the fighters of the temple resumed combating in a drunken fury and rage. Another catapult flung a rock, hitting the dome around the battle, which shook with pain, threatening to collapse. However, six raised stones, almost like a tombstone, around the circular edge illuminated brightly and any damage to the shield encasing the temple would mend. Even though the submarine already crushed one of the original six, the protection seemed to be doing all right without it.

A shuriken smashed into one of Yuffie's opponents, turning on her heel, she faced her next two. There were too many of them, no matter what the young adult would do, they'd constantly stand back up. Her body was feeling the effects of fatigue. Dropping to her knees, a mace made contact with her shoulder, successfully destroying it.

Cid and Nanaki were working together, both not with much more of a victory than Yuffie. Swinging madly at them with his spear, Nanaki was behind him, was lunging at the bones and bits of flesh. Regardless of how vigorous their defense was, the two were engulfed into the crowd.

Tifa and Vincent were split from Yuffie when they were surprised by the spontaneous assault. Spinning into a roundhouse kick, the talented combatant tried her best to cover Vincent as he made his way to the patterned tiles. With the light that the undead military was radiating, the flashlights they had equipped with them were null and useless.

The slinger's weapons were ineffectual when it came to shooting at bones, unless he was close enough to hit them with the hilt. "Vince!!"

Claret eyes and a gloved hand reached for him as they were pushed in different directions by the masses. Whipping out his Death Penalty, Valentine knew he had no other option now that the martial artist was separated from him. Only five minutes in his haste to shove his way through the living corpses, an axe swung out from no where and knocked his gun away.

Now running, well as much as running as he could through to density, Vincent could feel Chaos roar with anxiousness, wanting to be freed with every gash, slash and hit he bordered. _This should be it_. Looking down at his feet, he saw an altered design of stone. Yet, as he stared intently at it, he couldn't find a crack or hole to place the dagger in. One of the few things that Nanaki managed to translate was that the Aiya Dagger was meant to be slipped into a crack or hole of some sort in the very center of the temple. _But where was it now?!_

Hope was quickly ebbing away, he fell on his fours after his bruised and bloody body couldn't take another beat from the haunted forms around him. There was nothing but sealed rock in front of him, lying under him.

Crimson juices dripped from Vincent's various wounds, though his vision was blurred and unreliable, the gunman watched as the floor drank his blood. The hard pieces began to move away, revealing the slot he needed. A place to slip in the dagger.

He reached for the small knife in his belt but a sword came slicing down and left a deep laceration in his forearm. Through the sting and the burn, he could only think of the cause, Lucretia. His hand shook ferociously as a foot stomped down onto his back and another one kicked his ribs. But, the moment the blade was placed completely into the crack, a hush replaced the sounds of battle.

Lifting his head, he saw everyone else also watching in awe as his or her enemies' broken bodies dissolved into a dark red liquid. It slithered like snakes towards the middle and seeped around the mystical knife. They'd received the 'Blood of A Thousand Years'. After the glow had completely disappeared and darkness suffocated them, cheers from his comrades could be heard. However, Vincent had long lost consciousness.

"Vincent Valentine? Pay attention, you silly boy." Lifting his heavy lids, he saw nothing of the temple, instead he gaped at a church with no people and a woman dressed in white. A veil hid her face but he could see her dark locks and beautiful body. He was dressed in a dashing tux facing the bride. Turning to his left, he was staring into the eyes of… of… Drake? Donny? No… that wasn't it. Ah. Yes. David. He worked with him in his days as a Turk. Dear Dave, he was so determined to quit the tainted business and become a minister someday. Seemed like he achieved his dream…

"Are… we ready to continue?" The groom could think of no answer except for a curt nod. "Good. Now, uh… Oh yes, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."

Tilting her head up, he still couldn't figure out who it was. Could it be Tifa? That'd be… bliss. Or was it Lucretia? That would be most lovely. So… who was it?

Her whisper, only a breath away from him, demanded attention, despite her passive tone. "It only matters… Who do you want me to be?"

Vin's mouth opened but his mind couldn't conjure up anything to say. Suddenly, a gush of water slapped him in the face, waking him from his dream. He was on the cold ground of the Ares Temple, Tammy and entire crewmembers was outside of the sub and surrounding him.

"Damn, kid! I thought we fucking lost you." He noted, with slight interest, that a deep cut above Cid's right eyebrow was stitched up. He held one of Tammy's water bottles in his hand.

"How… long have I been unconscious?" Cid and Chris helped Vincent stand, during the act, he realized why. At the very least, one of his ribs had been snapped.

"Maybe an hour. Maybe two." Yuffie winced excruciatingly when Tifa limped by and scarcely brushed her left shoulder, which was tied up into a scarf-made-sling. The Highwind's captain continued to clutch his ace-eyed friend, almost afraid that if he let go, he'd fall and die.

"We seem to be stuck." Nanaki was laying behind some anonymous workers, who shuffled away so AVALANCHE could look at each other as they spoke. "The submarine would get into the temple because it had water for the propellers to push against. Now. We have nothing but air."

The submarine would not move without water and it was now laying lifeless on the edge of the temple. They didn't have enough people to push it nor did they have any machine that could move it.

"Isn't there… like a Materia we can use?" Lockheart looked around the swarm of people.

"There's no Materia strong enough to move a thing that size… or that heavy." Everyone seemed to become more hopeless at Tammy's reply, except for Vincent.

"So… water is our last option?" Albeit the monotone, the glitter of wisdom was shining in the gunslinger's eyes.

"… Yes…" The submarine driver seemed skeptical of his idea, even before she knew what it was.

"Give me my gun and get in the ship."

"…" His team members said nothing.

"Well! You heard the man!" Quickly straightening at the shrill cry of order from Tammy, one of her men ran off to find the missing weapon while the rest helped everyone into the ship.

Once getting a good shot at his target, Vincent stood at the entrance and aimed at the first of the six stones that had magically repaired the bubble before. A tiny tug pulled on his lips.

Instead of waiting, the moment the bullets had left his gun and crashed into the glowing rocks and stones, he ran to beat the water that was flooding in. Going down into the monstrous brigantine, he turned the wheel and sealed the crushing blue out.

Minutes later, Vincent relaxed on one of the beds, waiting to resurface and head to a hospital for some treatment… _Shit… I hate hospitals._ Heavy boots clunked in the hallway, Tifa walked by and gave him a quick smile. They were once again on good terms he supposed. Out of nowhere, Vincent felt chilled, no; frozen… it felt like something bad was going to happen.

* * *

I'm sorry that this chapter sucks. -.- For the last while (during the time I didn't update) I was wracking my brain trying to find an idea but my search was fruitless. Some of my friends even suggested I have someone get eaten by a shark... . Hopefully you won'y absolutely HATE me for my devastating garbage that I call a chapter. I'll REALLY try REALLY hard on the next chapter. Is there like a Tylenol or Advil I can ingest for Writer's Block???


	28. Remembering A Dead City

Disclaimer: Do you think I own ff7? I mean, like, anything is possible, right? P

When you enter the high school world (for those who have already been in there or are still in it), does it ever seem like the people from elementary or junior high just fade into the masses? Because that's what my brother keeps telling me. But I don't want that to happen. I don't want to lose _him_ ever again. So… tell me about it. ) Much appreciated.

* * *

Remembering A Dead City

"My god…" Though her entire body was crumbling under the excruciating pain, Yuffie couldn't help but giggle at the receptionist's reaction from seeing them. Puddles of sanguine fluid were collecting at the group of AVALANCHE's feet.

A dozen nurses rushed out and ushered them into rooms while Tammy and Chris began the small mountain of paperwork.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick…

"Tif.."

It can't be…

"Tif… please don't…"

_He's… he's…_

"…don't hate… me…"

_… Cloud…?_

"And… don't hate…h-"

_No… No!_

Something pricked her wrist and serge of warmth was crawling up her arm. Tifa's vision began to ease into a bright light. "How's her heart rate? And blood pressure?"

"It's dropping, doctor." Shadows by her bed began to form into humans. A doctor and two nurses stood by her with anxious expressions.

"Good… good." Pulling out a hanky, the distinguished physician wiped droplets of sweat off his forehead. "The sedative must be working…"

Swallowing hard, she listened to her heart pounding against her chest. Cloud.

Awhile after, the group was back in Tammy's home. They had recovered enough to leave the hospital and were ready to hunt down the 'Captivation Materia'. Chris, however, had mentioned having some connections and he would help… if, this time, Yuffie would go out on a date with him. Which she graciously agreed to.

"Vin, man!" Cid's voice called to a sulking phantom in the corner. "Stop that fuckin' brooding of yours, we're alive!"

Letting his blood-like eyes flicker towards the chain-smoker, he could still hear Chaos laughing… poking fun at him. It wasn't that out of the ordinary, really. A snide remark every here and there was exactly what Vincent needed to draw his thoughts away from the two vixens that were playing tug-a-war with his heart.

"Hey. Tiffie, come on now!" Claret irises shot open with a jerk. Zagan's ex-student looked absolutely exhausted. The dark blue rings around her eyes were akin to a raccoon. Using her mobile arm, Yuffie shook her friend awake.

"Okay, you guys, I think I found something." The seventeen-year-old shinobi turned to face her new love interest, whose was treading from one of the many rooms with a PHS in his hand. "A couple of years ago, there was a tournament held by some guy named… Dom."

"What's so special about him?" A white wrap was still encircling his torso, Nanaki slowly moved from his spot on the floor.

"Well, it seems that during that tournament, which he took part of also, the prize was a 'Captivation Materia'. No body ever heard of it so it didn't fuel much interest, but those that did show up were beaten down to the ground."

"… Where was this tournament held?" Pushing against the wall with his golden claw, Valentine could feel the collected worried stares they were throwing at him; of all of them, the gunman had received the most devastating injuries.

"Er…"

"Yes?"

"Midgar…" Nobody had rebuilt Midgar after the meteor incident. Reeve, who was now the leader of a large company labeled 'Natural', had also decided that the destroyed city should be left for the use of a reminder. The law that had forbid the use of Mako inspired the name. The Turks have joined his force and redeemed themselves by helping destroying the rest of the Mako reactors and doing little chores and such for him. "My source told me that he'd only heard about it from a friend who was in the tournament."

"So… it is possible that this 'Dom' is dead?"

"Well… yeah… but hey! You guys can always check."

An hour later, Cid's prized Highwind was filled with the usual crew and was ready to leave. AVALANCHE hopped into the metal creation… all except Yuffie. She slowed down until she finally stopped. Tammy watched from one of her second story balconies as her son ran out to the young girl and gave a quick peck.

"Tifa? Tifa?! Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?" Nanaki seemed slightly peeved that his friend was drowsing out during his intriguing story that he had found in a book he'd discovered in the Du's library. Yet, worry had found its way into his heart. "Tifa… Have you been having trouble sleeping?"

"Only…" Yawn. "a little."

"A little?" An inquisitive brow raised.

"Well… it's just." Her weary gaze rested on him. "I've been hearing him."

"… him?"

"Cloud… Maybe it's me… but every time I close my eyes… I hear him." Now positive that she had lost her mind, the sable crowned woman chuckled to herself. "I think I'm losing it."

"…" The dog-like creature glanced away.

"What is it?"

"Cloud… had visited me a couple of weeks before his… death."

All air that had been constricted in her throat. His death… oh… she remembered that night. It was forever burned into her sanity. "… What…?"

_It was late night, Nanaki was creeping around quietly in the darkness. But a sudden crash from his library caused his senses to heighten. Silently and carefully, the red beast could see the shadows dancing from the fire by his books._

Hoping for the element of surprise, he pounced from the obscurity only to find his former leader, Cloud Strife. But unlike before, the swordsman's clothes were ripped and tattered, most likely from battle. His gorgeous azure eyes were wide and teary, frightful and desperate.

"Red…" His husky voice was dripping with forlorn recklessness. "I… n-need your help."

"Cloud… Cloud questioned me of Aeris and her past. Her kind's past."

"He… said she talked to him, you know."

"I guessed." Silence strained for only a moment longer. "You should try and get some sleep."

Humorless laughter left her lips dry. "Easier said than done…"

Like every other night since entering the hospital and having that horrifying dream, voices were spiraling around her room. Tifa lay lifelessly on her bunk of the Highwind, which had moving slowly to their destination. Too soon had her mind drifted off to some far off corner of a magical dreamland.

Her bottom was seated in a plain wooden chair; a single bulb was illuminating her in the center of a room. Sitting perfectly still, you could have sworn she was a doll._ I'm waiting for something… right? I can't remember… He's always here on time. He always here. Period. …Who was 'he' again? I can't remember…I don't want to remember… What am I waiting for…?_ Her musings lead her mind in a vicious circle, yet she never managed to unearth an answer of any kind.

"Tif…"

_Y-Your just imagining it… Tif… is that my name? I can't remember…_

"Tif… Don't run…"

_Go away. You're not real… Not real…_

"You… have… to listen…"

_You're dead! You're dead! Stay dead!_

"Please… don't say that…"

_Not again. Stay dead! Don't do this to me!_

"I'll be talking… to you… soon."

"Tifa!" Shera's horrified face was hovering above her sweaty ones. Suddenly, Lockheart was pulled into a hug. Odd… somehow, her muscles refused to comply with her orders and return the embrace. "My gosh… I thought you had died!"

"I… what?" The new mother's breath was brushing against her ear. It was only now did the female AVALANCHE member realize that she was gasping for air and her limbs finally began to twitch slightly.

"You… You weren't breathing when I came in. I-I checked your pulse and you had none. I was terrified!"

Cid let out a bellow of some sort, telling the ladies that they'd arrived. Unsteady legs supported Tifa however she managed. Stumbling past the only other occupant of the room, she whispered quietly. "Don't tell anyone."

Midgar was just as they remembered, a heap of broken crap and useless rubble. No one was permitted on the premises, in contrast, they'd received special permission from Reeve. The Turks, who were now on neutral terms with AVALANCHE, were sent in to help them search for Dom.

As the two teams merged into one, Tifa felt a freakish chill. Like something was dead… nearby… Or dying. Something bad was going to happen…

* * *

I can't stop smiling XD

Ps. I'll try to hurry... again... but it's so hard!! . My mind's completely blank... But hey, if you read the top, you'll know that you're much appreciated!!


	29. Turks Step In

Disclaimer: -.- bleh. I'm getting so sick of typing these things...

Well okay, this is what's happening. I was working on this chapter and I'm still working at it. But after awhile, I thought it was just a pinch too long and I'm not even done yet. So I'm breaking it up into two chapters. Here's the first half... I'll try my best to finish the other half soon!

(please excuse the shitty title... I had another title for it... but it fits better with the second

part -.-)

* * *

**Turks Step In. **

Turks and AVALANCHE, walking side by side, mingling amongst themselves. It was something that was shockingly unexpected. Reno and Nanaki seemed to be chatting up a storm while Tifa was giggling and exchanging secrets with Yuffie and Elena. Cid, on the other hand, was still slightly suspicious of their former enemies. He stood by his family, keep a protective arm around his beloved wife and daughter. A silent truce had been formed between Rude and Vincent, whose was still injured from the previous fight and was lagging behind.

Everyone's conversations were loud and boisterous, making every one of them incoherent the others. Without warning, maniacal howls of laughter hushed the talkative team. Skilled Turk eyes scoured the area but nothing nor no one was around.

"Who- hee hee- are you?" Still invisible to them, their intruder's voice was saturated with insanity. "What does _you!-_ want?"

"_Me_ here for Materia. What _you_ here for?" The red-haired agent twisted his neck around and gave his fellow mates his million-dollar smirk. His EMR was being gripped in his right hand and cradled on his shoulder.

"Don't mock me," Suddenly, the piece of wreckage Reno was standing on burst with a powerful fire blast, possibly some kind of self-activating trap or... something. Throwing the unsuspecting man a few feet into the air and landed on some more scrap metal with a thump. "_Boy_."

Elena and Rude rushed to his side however, they kept cautious. "Who... are you? Where are you!"

"Why! Me Dom! Dom-o-nicky!" Tifa and Yuffie swapped glances.

"We're here for the Captivation Materia." The blond female called to the unseen opponent, seemingly undecided to treat him like the child he was beginning to sound like or an adult like most children expect.

"Then you here to fight." Everyone's hands twitched to reach for their weapons. "Fight in tournament!"

"Tournament?" The Wutainese Mistress whispered to her friend.

Moments later, a man rose up from the mountains of destruction. His buzz cut hair, which you would looked like black at first, began to show a tinge of navy blue. His clothing was ripped and patched up. Aside from his fashion disaster, he would have seemed normal in ...a... way if it wasn't for his jutting eyes that protruded from his sockets and the absolutely sadistic beam he wore.

Without words, they headed into his direction. Only once they arrived where he had first appeared, he was gone. But looking down into the trash valley, a self-made arena was made. The flooring was made up of mismatched 'tiles' that were parts of cars, ships, and buildings. Four pillars stood on each corner of the coliseum, though they had no use for they held nothing up except themselves. Well. 'Stood' wasn't exactly the word, they were evidently unstable and looked ready to fall over. But the heavy materials used to make it held it high.

"Five minutes to first battle!" Dom stood on the opposite side of the fighting area, now adding to his atrocious outfit with odd-looking gloves, a long black jacket and... yellow rubber boots...?

"We've only got five minutes." Nanaki looked around the circle of people. "I did not anticipate that we would be needing to combat. Most of us aren't ready for any physical conflicts right now..."

"It's not like we can leave! Gosh! For all we now, he's not going to pop up next time we come." The shinobi threw up her one good arm for effect. Swirling her short locks, she stared for seconds at their new enemy. "Besides... I've got a feeling he might not even _let_ us leave without a fight..."

"True..." Elena mumbled quietly, then shifted slightly under Reno's weight, which she shared with Rude.

"I can fight." Shera tightened her hold on her baby as her husband volunteered.

"No! Cid, No!"

"Look, everyone else here has the shit beaten out of 'em. I'm the only one that can probably walk on my own fucking legs."

Ahem.

"You seem to be forgetting why the Turks are here." A trace of annoyance was detectable in her voice.

"This is AVALANCHE's fight!"

"It is not your fight! We're here to help you and you're half-dead yourself, old man!"

"Shut you mouth, you little wh-"

"Cid. Stop." His midnight hair was flailing in the strong wind; his pale face showed no emotion. The ace shooter's claw was clutching his comrade's arm. "The Turks will fight for us. They are at full health while as we are injured and still recovering."

No one questioned Vincent's reason, not that they had any more time to protest. The madman called for his first adversary. Rude began his way down.

Once in the stadium, he rival began to explain the rules. "First one that can't get up is the loooooser! Any fighting methods are permitted! But no, NO killing! Hee Hee! Haha! Because killing bad! Killing make me sad..."

The bald gentleman nodded.

"Where is your weapon, little one?" Inclining his head to one side, Dom smiled even wider. Yet no feeling appeared on the Turk's as his hand pulled back his jacket's side to reveal a gun.

"Is that all?" With another nod, the lunatic's smirk grew to an inhumanly size. "Oh... it's just so small."

He slapped his gloves together and a loud clang sounded, like metal against metal. In the palm of his hand was some kind of mineral strip. Reaching out to his right hand, he flexed the band outward.

It was quiet until the sound of something cutting through the air began to grow louder as the metal strips began to glow a bright hot red. In a blink, a large metallic hammer was clenched in his hands. "The rare metal is somehow strongly attracted to each other and each other alone. I... found it amongst the broken pieces of the city. "

Materia glittered feverishly on its handle. A fire, a thunder and a cure. All mastered. Whatever sun was visible on the cloudy day shimmered on the clean spots of the pewter pieces of the fighting zone. The deranged fighter swung the mallet from hand to hand as if was nothing. "Battle begin!"

Though trained for years and assassinated hundreds, his speed was still naturally slow. By the time his fingertips reached his gun and fired, Dom had thrown his gavel to the side so he could move faster. Much faster. Not a single shot touched him. However the moment Rude's attacker was close enough, his right hand reached out to nothing but ended up squeezing his cherished mystifying tool.

Smashing it into Rude's arm and side, sickening cracks could be heard from where the rest were waiting. Their representative had flung a good distance before he landed speechlessly. His signature sunglasses had flown off however his eyelids still concealed his biggest mystery.

Their punisher used his foot and pushed Rude away from the arena and smiled as Elena made her way down towards him. He lifted his mallet up with childish ease. As she moved to the center as where her contender was, he cried out. 'Round two!!! Let's go!"

The rookie Turk drew out her pistol and fired twice. Being twice as quick as her friend, one bullet dug into Dominic's left shoulder while the other still missed. The madman wailed in agony and dropped his weapon at his feet. Falling to his knees, he continued to sob, almost in defeat. He was still across the arena, waiting for her to come. She walked a few feet closer, so she could taste her victory that was coming. Tseng would be proud...

Aim. She'll win this. No sweat. Again, her enemy's insanity proved to be much more powerful than she'd expected. His good arm came out and she shot him in the side, however, it didn't stop him from lifting the hammer and hurling towards her with great velocity.

Motionless like she was, some of her supporters could have sworn she was dead. Sweat was trickling down the nemesis' face, his wounds were getting the better of him. Then again... They were running out of fighters that could actually defend themselves against the titan.

Cid sauntered slowly to his challenge; even against Shera's pleads. Elena had done a good job in injuring him; all the pilot had to do was knock him out. He twirled his spear in his hands, happily grinning. Soon, this would be all over and he could go back to his home and settle down with his family.

* * *

Sorry I've been taking so long with the updates! But school and personal problems are beating me down! I've really been trying... ( Maybe everything will clear out A-ok in the end. But till then, you'll just have to bear with me through the chapters and slow updates... v.v Again... ) I'm super, no, uber-sorry! 


	30. Winner's Corner

Disclaimer: Don't own ff7.

Sorry this took so long. I suck at fight scenes. Hope you don't get _too_ confused...

* * *

**Winner's Corner**

Seconds after the combat began, the cancer sticks were taking its toll on its victim, yet Cid had already accomplished in damaging Dom's left back thigh. Smirking at each other from opposite ends of the stadium, both fighters were gasping for breath, either from a lifetime of smoking or wounds bleeding incredulously.

Again they were at it; Dom lifted the hammer above his head, hoping for a good hit. However, Cid clutched his opponent's wrist, stopping the man from bashing his head in. In the clumsy mist, the Materias had popped out and littered the ground.

The mallet had been tossed aside yet it was a fruitless try in disarming Dominic. In mere seconds his hand gripped the smashing utensil with assistance of his magnetic gloves. Dom smiled sadistically as he kneeled down to the floor, glittering orbs were gently rolling by him. In the spearman hands was also a Materia; a summoning Materia of his own. Both original weapons lay aside; the two savages attacked each other a barbaric manner. Too bad Dom was much larger than his contender. In mere moments, he had caught Cid in a bright show of thunder and electricity.

A collected gasp of horror emitted from AVALANCHE as volts and watts of voltage was coursing through their companion. Once the shock had ended, he staggered back clumsily.

Instead of using a deadly blow, the tournament's so-far champion brought his fist back and struck the still dazed warrior. Landing on his back, the Highwind captain was still moving, trying his best to stand even through his blurry vision. A sharp kick slammed into his ribs, yet, his will to win was persistent; another attempt to get up resulted in another blow to his bruised chest.

Every time Cid's hand would try to push him off the rock ground, Dom would come in with another vicious hit. His spouse let out a gasp with every strike. "Stop it! Stop it! He forfeits!"

Unable to even speak in objection, Cid could only let his opponent shove him to the side. Tension was growing thick around the remaining fighters. Who could fight? "We seem to be out of fighters..."

His jacket was flapping with the wind that had picked up, his wild grin lengthened. "Really?"

Their adversary was hurt and tired, all they needed was one more person to finish the job.

"I'll fight." Tifa called from behind everyone. Her ankle was almost unnoticeable as she walked slowly to her fate.

"No." Stopping in mid-step, her fists of death clenched together confidently. Almost reluctantly spinning around into an argument, she braced her emotions, hoping they didn't show through her eyes. "You cannot battle. You are injured."

"I'm handicapped, yeah. But I'm the one in best shape out of us. Plus, I'm in better shape than him too."

"So was Rude, Elena and Cid."

"Rude was slower. Elena underestimated and Cid let him get too close. Not to mention, they aren't as fast or flexible as I am, I've been watching him."

"You are being-" A smoldering glare attempted to intimidate the defiant girl.

"Stupid? Irrational? It doesn't matter now! We've got to win. Besides... you want the Captivation Materia, don't you? For..." _Her... _"Lucretia."

Not waiting for a reply, she continued her way down.

Her crimson irises glared into Dom's hazel crazed ones. Both were wounded and both were not to their fullest power, it was all on tactics and technique now. Her scarlet oculus watched carefully as her antagonist hobbled with his hurt leg to his mallet.

Her fishtail swung a little as she slid into a fighting stance. Her own leg had healed quite nicely during the period of time she was stranded within the walls of a cold and hateful place labeled the hospital. Dom, on the other hand, was thoroughly impaired and ruined. He had two bullet wounds, one somewhere in his side and one in his arm. Then there was the large slash on the back of his thigh. Also, he'd fought three people in a row, he must be tired. It almost looked as if Tifa was in advantage.

"Battle... begin!" Dom cut the space between themselves and nearly caught Tifa with a fatal horizontal smack if she hadn't leaned back fast enough. However, it did manage to connect, even the littlest bit, with her chin. And she could feel amazing momentum. Truth was in her statement before; the key to win was speed and dodging.

Lockheart fell onto her back and rolled promptly to her right as the hammer slammed down to where she was just was. Pressing her palm against the cold stone floor, she flew up to be nose to nose against the insane madman. Before she could even express surprise, his knee came up to knock the wind out of her gut.

Clutching her injury, pure hurt was racing to every inch of her body. He was strong. _Well obviously! He carries a fucking hammer around... Get your damn head in the game Tifa!_ Her arms flew up in time to catch the handle of the mallet, ceasing it from crushing her bent over form. Her enemy stood pushing his weight into the weapon. Sweat perspired from her forehead.

Suddenly, Dom let a crazy smirk etch his lips. Without a moment's notice, he let the tool go and watched as the mass pulled her down.

Her head snapped back as the heavy chunk was left for her to carry. The streak of yellow came flying to her skull; connecting with the odd boot, her body fell back. The heavy mallet flew from her grip. Her brain willed her arms to quickly push herself up before the bastard that belonged in an asylum would come and smash her into bits. Yet, there he was, only he had no hammer. Instead, he pounced on her, knees trapping her upper arm. Reaching down, he gripped her beloved gloves and tugged them off, letting the increasing wind dry the supple palms.

He flaunted his insanity like a gold ring while he flung his head back and gave a trembling laugh. Tears were beginning to sting Tifa's eyes as the man's heaviness was crushing her arms.

"How's 'bout a lil' smoochie, sweetie?" '_... or flexible as I am_.' Tifa's powerful leg pulled up and nailed him in the spine, of course, causing him to fly forward and off her.

"You really are crazy, aren't you?" Her voice mocked him as she leapt off the chilling ground. He also rose from his last assault, more so, this time no childish glee was evident in his russet irises, only the heartless stare of a cold competitor.

"Crazy..." The hoarse whisper was barely audible. Lifting the deadly hammer, he cried out in furious anger and charged at Tifa with alarming speed. The metal head scarcely brushed her nose as her skillful feet carried her body safely away from the madman's tries to kill her. With each speedy step, she etched closer to the end of the stadium.

Something cold pressed against her back as she realized that she was up against one of the shaky pillars. Dom stepped slowly towards her with a glint of absolute confidence in his glossy eyes.

A lowtreble sounded as Tifa ducked for her life and the metal head slammed into the mix and matched column. As fast as she could go, her knees scraped on the rock as she escaped from under his looming form into the open. Just in time too. He turned to face her as pieces from the top of the pillar crumbled down. Three hunks of metal chunks fell with ferocious speed; one's jagged edge dug into Tifa's back, another clanged harmlessly onto the floor and the last knocked Dom right on his cranium.

Her back and shirt was ripped and blood was gushing from its broken veins. Getting up clumsily, she spun around and watched somewhat amused as her adversary staggered in his dizzy haze.

Anger was burning in his eyes when he finally locked irises with her; again with a deadly weapon in his hands, he slowly advanced in a menacing manner. "Ha! You think that will stop me?"

Tifa's mouth opened, wanting to retort yet nothing manifested in her mind. Charging forward, he raised his hammer ready to strike but her body slid down. With a hasty kick, her toned legs made contact with his, forcing him to follow the law of gravity.

Crawling as fast as her skinned and officially scarred knees would take her, Lockheart hoped to get away but a powerful slam crushed her. Rolling over once more, another killing blow destroyed the floor beside her. Nonetheless, she was trapped under his intimidating shadow; he gave a manic grin as his feet stood on each side of her waist.

"You cheat!" Tifa cried out quickly inches before the gavel hit her skull.

"What? Cheat? Moi?" Suddenly forgetting the idea of murder or victory, Dom let the hammer loll at his side.

"T-Those gloves..." Her brain hastily thought of someway to save her own life. "They allow you to get your weapon anytime from anywhere, I say that's unfair."

He fondled her accusation for minutes before reaching to each wrist and peeled off the gloves. "Happy?"

She simply nodded before gripping his ankles and pulled. Jumping up quickly, she took hold of the hammer that lay quaintly by Dom's arm as he began to stand. Without any rational thought, her muscles stressed to slide the heavy metallic beast to another part of the battle field. Turning on her heel to where her enemy stood, he brought up his fist and struck her. At first she stumbled but speedily reached up to block his elbow from striking her left temple, countering, the inky-top fighter, she sent her knee up to his abdominal but he too deterred it with his free hand.

Both pushed the other away, giving each other a smirk, the ensued a series a speedy attacks. Tifa caught her favorite insane boy in a round-house kick causing him to step back willing his diaphragm to work once more. Four knuckles broke his nose and sent him to the floor however two forceful legs invited a female to join him there.

Flinging himself on top of her small frame, his hands would have choked the life out of her if her feet didn't press against the floor and propel her hips upward tossing him off. In synchronized movement, the two jumped into their stances.

Tifa, of course, was faster hence she managed to catch him in a punch. Then her steel toe came up with flexibility and thoroughly marred his eye. As the sanguine juice dripped from his socket, she grabbed both sides of his head and met it halfway with her bony knee.

Unwilling to let her claim his victory, Dominic glared consciously at her with his one good eye. As the Zaghan warrior came running at him with her fists ready to strike, he side-stepped quickly and grabbed one fist, letting her momentum do the work for him.

In the midst of her unbalance, he pounced her once more to pummel her in a fury of fists. A sour fluid was beginning to assault her taste-buds as another hard knuckle hit somewhere random on her face. Tifa's own hands groped blindly past the punches, hoping to grasp something. Anything. Stringy, sweaty hair was the first thing her fingertips tangled into so with one dynamic tug, its seemed to have triggered a harsh scream from the potent attacker and for him to fall to her side.

Barely able to stand, they gawked at each other in gory stares. So much red had collected at Dom's feet; it was surprising he was still up, whilst his female rival was covered in a fresh sheen of burgundy paint.

The wind was digging into their eyes, ripping moisture away. Somehow, they both knew that if they took even the slightest bit of attention from the other, the battle would be over.

"Tifa, cease this idiotic manner!" Not even needing to turn her head, she knew it was Vincent. She couldn't stop now. This was all for him...

"No!"

"You will be killed." Yuffie gripped his arm with her only undamaged one, trying to calm him.

"I can take care of this!" She could have almost sworn Dom was smiling with hilarity in their argument.

"Don't be stupid! You will die!"

"It's for you..." Twisting her neck painfully, her voice was carried in the now vicious wind. "It's worth it."

Vincent had no time to answer before a lightning fast fist smashed into her face, Dom brought back his arm again, readying for another hit but Tifa's own forearm blocked it from any contact. But without her knowledge, his knee ran into her tummy. Bending over in agony, she coughed out blood. A sudden slap flung her onto her side; Tifa lifted her blood-hot eyes to watch her nemesis. Face contorted into disgusting shapes, fingers twitching, thirst of blood unsatisfied, body dripping with lovely dark cherry; Dom, the holder of the needed Captivation Materia, looked down at her.

Absolute hatred smoldered her senses; onto her feet in countless seconds, she caught him in a cruelly hard tackle. As she shoved him into the same pillar, pieces from the top tumbled down dangerously. One extra big chunk sank its razor sharp blade into the girl's arm. Portions of the column showered around her. When the commotion grew silent, Lockheart unshielded herself from her bruised, bloody and broken arms. Looking up, she saw the rest of the post was glued tightly together; each section was securely stuck to the next. Letting her view drift to the base of the pillar, in the middle of all debris, was an unconscious Dom.

Abruptly, the stack of metal squeaked... but nothing more fell. Tifa waited a few more moments before spinning around and gleamed with pride at her teammates. Her fists shot in the life with ultimate victory. Yuffie gave her thumbs up and Vincent smiled happily.

However...

Their expressions quickly changed to panic. Puzzled and bewildered, she didn't know what was wrong until a boisterous and loud creaking sounded behind her and the shadow of a familiar pillar shaded her. Barely being able to turn around, the crushing force of tons of metal knocked her down and broke her.

Every bone imaginable snapped and cracked without resistance. Her nerves screamed at her all at once. Maybe she screamed... maybe she didn't; she couldn't hear anything.

Her vision succumbed to the beckoning white light. Letting her eyelids drift open, she saw what she had been locking in the _deepest_ corner of her mind standing in front of her.

"Hey, Tif." Sizzling cobalt eyes looked at her with unexpected friendliness.

Her mouth opened without noise but nothing could come out, millions of questions caught in her throat.

"It's... been awhile." Golden spikes caused her to tremble.

"... Cloud...?" Finally did she see the memorable setting of the Lifestream. _The Lifestream. I'm in the Lifestream. Does... that mean...?_

"We need to talk about something."

"Am... I dead?" Tifa stared at her old love with unknown emotion.

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oOOooh. gosh. it's a cliffhanger of some sort. -gasp- I really don't know how long the next chapter may take. Everything in my life is completely unpredictable right now so I'll just try writing as much as I can. Peace.


	31. A Warning: The Kiss Of Death

Disclaimer: Don't claim Final Fantasy 7. It belongs to Square enix.

Crap. I suck at explaining fight scenes. P

Sorry I've taken sooo long. When I was looking through some quick plans I had for this fic, I found a glitch in my plans so I had to rethink everything… -.- lucky me. Sorry!

Ok. **THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER**. I've gotten reviews saying how they liked the ending I'm like 'wha…?' because there are a couple more chapters after this. Note the many many loose ends I didn't not tie up. ) thanks.

Uhh… most of this chapter isn't really 'new writing' haha XD don't be deterred by the length.

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**A Warning: The Kiss of Death**

Her vision succumbed to the beckoning white light. Letting her eyes drift open, she saw what she had been locking in the _deepest_ corner of her mind standing in front of her.

"Hey Tif." Sizzling cobalt eyes looked at her with unexpected friendliness.

Her lips parted but nothing could pass them, millions of questions caught in her throat.

"It's… been awhile." Golden spikes caused her to tremble.

"… Cloud…?" Finally did she see the memorable setting of the Lifestream. _The Lifestream…? I'm in the Lifestream. Does… that mean…?_

"We need to talk about something."

"Am… I dead?" Tifa stared at her old love with unknown emotion.

"Just for now I guess." A smirk stretched over his lips if only for a moment.

"…" Claret irises reflected her feelings, if only she knew what her feelings were. The smouldering passion; was it love? Hate? Or possibly the simple need for his familiar form to come home. She found herself suffocating in the sentiment but enjoying every bit of it too.

"When the time comes, you can't let yourself hate him." Turning away, Cloud refused to look at her. His voice seemed undaunted yet his body language spoke enough of his concern.

"A… what…?" Bewilderment had suddenly snagged her conscious mind; however he stayed motionless; he was ignoring her words.

"You can't blame him for what he did. A man is still a man." Was he referring to himself?

"Don't let what he does stop how you feel. Don't give up on him just yet." Don't give up on him? Strutting over to him (even though her knees shook vigorously), she took hold of one broad shoulder and attempted to turn the old friend around.

With little effort, he twisted out of her grip; cerulean eyes still denied any contact with his Tifa's sanguine pupils. However, this time as he spoke, it did not sound as if it were a memorized script. "Did you mean it? When you said you hated me?"

"Yes." Doubt burned in her. "I mean no. I don't know."

"I didn't think it was in you to actually hate someone." His voice stated his opinion as if it were a fact.

"Well you never really knew me." Tifa snapped in return.

"I know you." Cloud lowered his head, and with that action, his monotone returned. "Don't let your heart turn black. Don't forget the good times with him."

"Stop it! Stop it! You're not making any sense!" A little girl born in Niblehiem's cradling arms, a fighter born in the dangerous streets of Midgar. However, at this moment, this woman didn't know what she was. Her supposed knight in shining armour somewhat defined who she was, but now she couldn't tell what he wanted her to be.

"You can't hate hi-" All she could see was his unforgiving back. _Why won't he look at me?_

"Shut up! I don't understand! I don't understand what you're blabbing about! 'Don't hate him'?! What the hell are you droning on and _on_ about?!" Suddenly filling with new-found confidence, Lockheart took a step forward.

"You-" Cloud's voice cracked. "You can't let what he does-"

"I don't get it! I don't understand why you do this. I don't understand why you said forever when you only mean a little while. I don't understand why you said you loved me when you meant you love her! I don't understand… why you never let me into that little world of yours but you let Aeris in without hesitation…"

Finally did he spin around and enwrap her into a sincere embrace. "Of course I love you. You're like a sister to me."

Unconsciously, she began to sink into his arms but quickly she pulled out of his tempting warmth. "You lie! I hate you. You can't manipulate me with your words anymore."

"Will you forgive me?" Nothing but kindness twinkled in his irises.

Slightly surprised at his abrupt question, Tifa barely managed to compose anything to say. "Wha…?"

"I asked you 'Will you forgive me'." Calloused fingers reached outward, brushing the puzzled companion.

Thoughts were drowning her, his mere touch was invigorating. Yet one feeling was still was engraved into her heart. Abandonment. Out of the blue, she was as bitter as dirt. "… What do _you_ think?"

"Please. You can forgive me can't you?" Something in his voice was missing, it didn't seem like he was genuinely was asking for absolution. His eyes glinted; his expression was on the edge of a knowing grin. In spite of this, Tifa continued.

"There are some things that a person can never forget nor forgive."

"I'm not asking for you to forget!" Cloud was overtaken with urgency. "You can't hold grudges, not against him. He might have screwed up but you have to forgive him. I'm not telling you to forget! You just have to forgive him!"

The fist warrior's shoulders were gripped tightly by the swordsman's hands. "I'm saying this for _your_ happiness. Don't let your hurt veil your love."

Her old flame's face began to fade.

"Cloud Strife… Do you know something I don't?" Tifa had never heard him so desperate for her to grasp what he was saying.

"I know I hurt you. I know you're sensitive. You can do drastic things because your life has too much pain and loss in it already." He stared straight into her eyes. "He's the key to your paradise. Don't waste it, this all I can give you."

The same bright and powerful light was growing behind him.

"What's going to happen?" Scorching droplets were rolling down her porcelain cheeks; damn, she had missed him these last couple of months.

Tugging her into a gentle hug, he whispered quietly into her ear. "Be strong. I love you but I can only protect you from so much."

As he stood back, she could still feel his body's impression against hers. "What's going to happen?"

Cloud gave her a forlorn smile. Blinded at this point, she never noticed as his form dissipated into the unseen Sun.

-------------------------------

_No one can survive something like that. Hehehe._

Chaos snickered in the back of Vince's mind as he ran down to the broken heap of a once tall and proud column.

"Tifa…!"

_"Tifa?" Her body froze in its place. She turned slowly, wearing a dazzling smile._

_"Morning Vince." Instead of continuing her way, she faced him and kneeled. "You know what?"_

_"…What?" Suspicion was apparent in his arched brow._

_"I'm glad you let me come. I know I'm supposed to be the one trying to help you but…" Facing the window to her right, the fighter shut her eyes, kissing the sky and the clouds. "You've been the one who's been making my life easier. Helping me get over Cloud."_

Several things caught his foot as Vincent clumsily trotted down to the rubble. Tumbling the last bit, he wasted no time in trying to regain composure as he ran towards the broken pile. _Don't let her be dead. Don't let her be dead. I can't lose another one._

Could his heart take another loss of another perfect woman that he had loved? Did he love her? _Don't start doubting now…_

His claw reached out to grab pieces of mystery metals yet an invisible fist nailed his chest, knocking whatever wind left out of him. Skin scraped easily off his knees as he fell onto them; his mind and soul ached to continue digging, to save Tifa, however, in contrast, his broken bones and body would never allow such at this point. Helpless tears formed in his eyes as he tried futilely to lift a heavy chunk of rock or dulled mineral.

_The Sun slipped its fingers into the small room, as if it was afraid to disturb the gentle scene. But the daylight was inevitable. The cold executor couldn't help but stare at the martial artist; her hair and skin glowed with even the smallest bits of light. His eyes traveled down her bare collarbone then to her ruffled shirt; the first couple of buttons came unbutton during the conversation leaving her part of her chest to glow like her face. It looked so smooth. His metallic claw began to move towards her porcelain skin; hoping that it could feel through its gold exterior. _

_The tip of the sharpened index finger stroked south from her neck, he could almost feel the warmth of her body. The inhuman hand preceded it path onto the collarbone when he could have sworn he began to feel the tender texture of her skin. Her nose suddenly scrunched up causing him to draw back his hand in seconds time before her eyes unlocked from its sleepy prison._

Nanaki, Barrett and Yuffie stared down as their comrade; there wasn't much chance that he would find what he wanted. A drop of water plopped gracefully onto the dark-toned man's velvet coloured-nose, but that was only the beginning of the rain coming.

The strengthening mist caught Vincent's attention, his breathes came out as puffy clouds when he gasped, trying to lift another portion of murderous rubble however the striking pain would quickly return. He saved her once before, he could do it again… right?

_"Vincent…" Her angelic cry pounded in his ears. He was hearing her again but a silhouette moved near the mountains. _

_"Lucretia…!" urgency dripped from his whisper as he ran towards the darkened figure; her hair was just like Lucretia's, it moved down her back but the skin of the arms were a ghostly pale. _

_Oh, please god let her be real. He was so close but saw the phantom woman began to lean forward over the edge of a cliff. She was going to fast; leaving him too fast. Not again._

_"Lucretia! Don't go! Please!" The rain came down on the two; she was in arm's length but something was different about her. Vincent could care less; he would have her back. Reaching out his human hand, he reached for anything that could confirm that she was real. A wrist was all he could manage, plus, he miscalculated her momentum and was pulled with her towards the cliff's edge. _

_Mr. Valentine was overjoyed to have been able to touch her but horrified at the fact that he might lose her the second he got her back. The body flew over the edge while as his chest landed roughly on the dirty rock floor. The arm was slippery from the moisture that had connected to her skin but he refused to let her disappear into obscurity._

_With every ounce of strength he had, he pulled her up unto the same level as he sat. Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh of relief as he wrapped protective arms around the slumping body. Vincent let his head droop into the female's hair but… it wasn't the same fragrance he remembered each and everyday. His arms held her shoulders as he let his glazed eyes search the young girl's face; it wasn't the gentle face his mind filled with, it was the fierce yet kind-hearted face that belonged to no one but Tifa Lockheart. _

Every time he attempted to even move, liquid more red than his crimson cloak would ooze from his still recovering cuts and gashes.

_He'd been in a meadow, the same grassy plain that he'd spent many blissful times with Lucretia. He stood on the very spot they'd first committed their sweetest sin. Then there she was, Lucretia. Sitting in a distance, he'd crossed the distance quickly. Dreams never worked on logic, next second she was standing, ready for a kiss. Vincent given it to her; her lips were so soft. Like cushions, he sank into them. It felt so right, so justified. He just wanted to peep, just a peek of her gorgeous face, even if his sight would be of a horrible angle. But when his eyes were opened, her eyes were uncovered also. Instead of sensual green, there was animated crimson. Tifa's crimson. Vincent knew it was her but something wouldn't let go, he couldn't pull away. On contrary, he deepened the passion. He finally succeeded ripping from her saccharine lips; that was where the first image came from, Tifa smiled at him. That smile he loved. The right cheek dimple, oddly, he remembered every detail of that grin. His lips were magnetized towards hers again, unable to stop they continued. But… before he could explore more, he awoke._

Why did he continue to deny it?

_She hadn't seen him yet. The girl was too concentrated on the small butterfly that had landed on her finger. Blue, purple and green; it matched the scenery around her. The gunman felt the slightest smile tug at his lips, she was so… so… something. No. Clamping his eyelids close, he couldn't let that small part of him take over. Tifa… Tifa was nothing. Nothing to him. Lucretia was everything. Yet, he couldn't stop thinking about the woman with carmine stars._

_Screw it. Vincent had been thinking about love for years, decades. Maybe just for a moment, just a single moment, he could simply follow his heart without wondering of anything. No wondering of everything, in a way; wondering… nothing._

Why, _why_ didn't he tell her before?

_She sat up, letting her side of the 'blanket' fall. Tipping her head upwards, she shut her eyes, basking in the moon's luminescence. In that moment, the mysterious member of their group looked upon her. Lucretia was gone. Tifa was there and she was perfection. Sudden warmth climbed into his insides. Thirty years of mourning that he couldn't recall, a journey that cost a life that he couldn't care about; all there was in his mind was the goddess beside him._

Searing bubbles began burning a trail down his face. There was no uncertainty prodding at him; _she_ was all he wanted, all he needed was _her_. _Right now_. Tifa…

Vincent was cold, he was alone. The downpour had stripped the man of any heat; it stripped him of all faith. He'd failed; there was nothing left for him to do but wishfully think.

"I am sorry." Leaning down closer while bowing his head, blood dripped from everywhere. His hushed voice meant for only her ears. "I love you."

Metal clanked; his heartbeat sped. Looking up, he watched in awe as large members of the shattered column began to shift. Jaw slacked and eyes gawking, Vince watched as a single hand with a mangled glove hanging pathetically on it popped out from the wreckage. Following in sequence, her entire form eventually found its way to the surface. Tifa's clothes were ripped and torn yet her self was in tact, not even the wounds from her previous battle with Dom were evident.

Wine-hued irises landed on a very soaked and drenched gunman. Sanguine juices had pooled around him.

"Oh my god." Her boots clunked as she hustled down to him, ripping off whatever clothe she could spare from her own cloths. "You're bleeding…"

Tifa tied them around his wounds, hoping to slow the flow. A freezing hand touched her cheek, urging her to look at him. Tilting her head upwards, Vincent's lips pressed hers into a weak kiss. When ended, Vincent wrapped her up in a fragile hold. "Never again…"

Up until now, she didn't notice the tears that were still draining out of his eyes. "… Never leave me again…"


	32. The Why, Where and What

Disclaimer: I don't claim any of the characters in here. Except for the ones I obviously thought up… you should be able to tell which ones I made up and not -smiley-

Hi there. There's still more chapters coming, I know, it's slowly murdering you eh? T man this is really messed. I can't wait to start my other story…

Hehe first time I wrote a lemon was in this story. I suck at it. Admit it. And I don't exactly _like_ writing that kind of stuff anyways. So use your own imagination from now on P YOU CAN DO IT! –encourages you with big signs and muffin baskets-

By the way, this is kind of a tiny _tiny_ way of slipping in little answers of why's and stuff.**Fluff warning**. XD sorry to those who don't like fluff. It just seems like it'll fit here.

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**The Why, Where and What**

Silence had slyly slipped into the van Reeve had sent for our favourite team whence they'd called in for help. A substantially large group had come with it; medics, officers, and a search team. It didn't take long to discover the remains of The Great and Powerful Dom.

Limp bodies were carried gently into the vehicle; Reno, Elena, Rude, Cid and a stone cold Dom. They had unanimously decided that a proper burial was deserved for the crazed and sadistic warrior.

People in white tended carefully to a bloodied gunman's reopened wounds while Tifa stood by him with Cloud's words pounding in her mind and Vincent's kiss mixing every letter around. Unfocused and distraught, she didn't notice as they turned into the Chocobo Farm. Once again, a hospital would be their home for the night.

Tifa was quickly shooed away from her injured companions and friends as the nurses and doctors feverishly rushed to get them cleaned and healed.

Nanaki, Shera and her Ashley, Yuffie and she set off to find an inn to stay for themselves; at one in the morning, everyone practically dropped like the dead onto their plushy mattresses, all except Lockheart. Energized and dandy, she stepped into the shower to rinse off the blood of one special shooter.

Suds piled high on her crown, she ran her fingers gingerly over soaked smooth skin. Not a single bruise or injury was left imprinted onto her self; no bruises from Dom's punches and what not, no scrapes from the friction of skin against stone and metal, not even her ankle gave any resistance to her brain's commands like before.

Inevitably, a certain kiss from a certain someone managed to saunter into her mind. _I've never seen him so beautiful…_ Truth in her thought, Vince had never looked so fragile to her. Instead of his usual intimidating and dominating demeanour, he appeared torn and vulnerable. Had she scared him that much?

"Tifa? Are you okay in there?" Yuffie's voice of concern was muffled against the wooden door. Dressing promptly, bare feet froze at the chilling contact of the tiles; the martial artist swung the door open. "You were in there for like an hour. I was getting worried."

Giving a heart-warming smile to her enigmatic buddy, they both walked back to their own beds and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

It had been a week and a half since they'd come back from Midgar; Vince had changed slightly since then. He didn't reject the idea of Tifa holding his hand when he was in bed; nor did he tense when she would lean in for a tiny peck… well… not as much as she thought he would. So that meant they were together now right?

Right?

Right?

Something in her heart doubted everything. He hadn't mentioned Lucretia at all; were they still going to revive her? This quest was an act of love… so need he continue if he loved the one with claret stars instead of emerald windows to an intellectual mind?

Even though he allowed Tifa to make actual human touch with him, Mr. Red and black had yet to speak anything of where-to-next. But it was impossible to avoid the subject forever, four days passed until everyone (Turks included) found themselves in a crammed inn room waiting for Vincent to say something.

"… Yes?" His simmering blood-shot orbs charred everyone.

"Uh… We were just wondering… where… now?" The young thief had taken a seat right beside him, though now she looked as if she regretted it. His aura had returned to his shit scaring normality.

Ten thousand years etched on by while they waited in anticipation; however, everything comes to an end. "Junon. The Hades Temple stands by its outskirts."

Tension began to strangle each member of the group. Reno noticed, trying to lighten the mood he joked. "We don't gotta fight no psychotic gorilla man again, do we?"

"No." Too bad the distasteful humour was beaten over the head by none other than Vincent Valentine.

"… I guess I'll go get m' fuckin' ship all warmed up for you assholes." Cid grabbed hold of his dear family and rushed out.

One by one, everyone had fabricated some kind of improbable excuse to leave. All but a single woman. Tifa ambled over to her new lover and grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Feeling a tug at his own lips, he let onyx strands cascade as he dipped down until their mouths introduced each other and met.

They both seemed satisfied enough to stay in that position between hungry passion and teasing nibble. Breaking away eventually (eventually…), she knew what she needed to know before anything else. "… Why are we still going to Junon? Why don't we just quit?"

The sharp shooter quickly took a step away. Pacing around the room, he found the window by one of the bunks to be the best place to choose his words. He collected the each sentence as he gazed out to their scenery. "Lucretia… She lost her life too early. It was before her time. She did not deserve what she had been fated with and I cannot live knowing it was my doing so that caused it. Also, we are so adjacent to our goal, why must we simply give up?"

Strolling carefully closer, her pale hand brushed off non-existent dust from his shoulder. "How could it have been your doing that caused her death? You didn't do anything but love her…"

Turning around, Vince smiled just a tad. "Do I sense a tinge of envy?"

"No!" Fire manifested into her cheeks, burning them a bright cherry. "I-I mean no, no, of course not!"

"… Why not?" This mystifying character obviously found her amusing as she blubbered in a loss for words.

"I-I no, you- I-…" Tifa stomped her foot down like a child, her face now a shade of such glowing crimson. "Just answer my question!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Both synthetic and flesh hands clutched her hips, pulling her till she was flushed right against himself. "I have a compulsive need to love and touch gorgeous woman I adore. I just… cannot… stop myself."

All the while he spoke, he trailed butterfly kisses up from her collarbone to her shoulders then jaw line. Five hot and five sharp, cold fingers twitched anxiously as they crept up into her black tee.

It hadn't taken long before Tifa herself responded with eagerness in her nimble digits as they furiously unbuttoned her partner's shirt. A low groan erupted from her throat when a scorching tongue had found a soft spot right under her ear.

Moments later, all that could be heard from inside the inn chamber were loud moans and screams. Leaning against the wall, a form's grey eyes twinkled with delight. _At how much they want each other, they should be done in maximum an hour_. Yuffie stood up straight and began to strut down the hall. "I am _such_ a good matchmaker."

Now to find Nanaki and that very, _very_ fine looking Captivation Materia.

* * *

Yeah... this chapter doesn't have much of... much. hope you liked it at least a little-smiley- Sorry it's shorter than usual. 7 or 8 more so chapters. XD I told you before it'd be around 40 so... also. sorry about the fluff. 


	33. Author's Note

Hello faithful readers!

Thank you for all your support! But I've decided to rewrite this story. The new version will have generally the same plot except it'll have different conversations and stuff. If you read both, you'll see some serious similarities or even same sentences. But the new version will have a different theme. I kind of noticed that it was heading in that direction in the old story too, so it won't be very different.

Hell, they might as well be the same story except my style of writing has gotten somewhat more sophisticated (I think) o.o

Anyways, please read the new version from here on out. And remember to review the new one too! It's what keeps me going! Really. If I don't get motivation, my work starts to slack. I know, how sad is that?

The new version will be called **'Standing on My Own Two Feet'**

Thanks again!

Sincerely,

Kay.heartscry


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